Shun Goku WTF!
by kyugan
Summary: Shun Goku Satsu...the Raging Demon. Otoko Michi...the Way of the Man. What would happen should these two techniques Clash?
1. Chapter 1

Greetings Fiction readers!

I know I got a lot of work ahead of me with my other fics, trust me, who doesn't these days, But I just wanted to get this up and posted.

This work of fiction is dedicated to my good buddy Sketchfan, good on ya bro.

I do not own Any of the characters in this fic, they are the property of their respective owners and companys.

YAHOO!!

* * *

Shun Goku WTF?!

Round one.

Gouki was pissed.

Those words alone should have sent a warning to the collective universe to get the fuck out of Dodge before the body parts started flying.

The Master of Fists was normally not the type to let anyone goad him into anger, mainly because no one was stupid enough to provoke someone that could bitch-slap an island out of existence…well, except for Ryu, but then Gouki loved pounding the boy's head into the pavement for his insolence. Ah, the joys of parenthood.

In fact, outside of challenging his master, Goutetsu, and brother, Gouken, Gouki had never instigated a fight, preferring to wait for strong challengers to track him down while he honed his skills in combat, occasionally warping in to mess with Ryu's life, spurring him to become stronger like a father should.

He had actually intended to do so today, lurking in the wings of yet another World Warrior Tournament, having disposed (non-lethally, he didn't kill weaklings) of the security Interpol had assigned to keep an eye out for trouble, watching as his son rose through the rankings like the prodigy he was. The cub's Gaijin rival, Ken Masters, was competing as well, and while not a primary concern, Gouki was man enough to admit the blonde was the perfect rival for Ryu…though his Hadouken skills needed a lot of work, not enough power despite the faster start-up.

Then some little slip of a girl in a sailor-fuku had stepped into the ring, apparently fighting under some sort of 'Saikyo-ryu' team. Gouki wouldn't have paid her any mind were it not for the fact she'd used a Hadouken to send her opponent, some irritating blonde with her hair in plaits, out of the ring. That alone had caught his interest; clearly the founder of Saikyo-Ryu had studied, to an extent, the basics of Ansatsuken, for while Ki projectiles weren't that uncommon, this was Japan for Kami's sake, only a Hadouken gave off that particular aura, a combination of natural Chi and the users own Ki.

Then he'd actually SEEN the founder of Saikyo-ryu, as he leapt into the ring for his match against Masters' disciple. By the time his mind registered that the idiot was wearing a pink, you read right, PINK version of the gi all Ansatsuken users wore, the match was already underway.

Calling the fight a match, however, was stretching things too far. It was a TRAVESTY. Never had Gouki seen such a farce of a martial art. He recognized certain elements of Muay-Thai mixed in with the idiot's moves, but even they were a pale imitation of one of the deadliest arts on the planet outside his own. Had it not been so ludicrous Gouki might have actually laughed at the pitiful Hadouken-knock off the pink clad man had pulled off, the yellow-clad Brazilian had simply landed Shoryuken to the man's face as the attack faded into nothingness.

But then, while the Brazilian had been posing for the cameras, despite the match still being on, the gaudily dressed one had done something that insulted Gouki to the root of what remained of his mortal soul. He'd stood up, crossed his arms before him and HOVERED towards his opponent in what, to the Master of Fist's shock, had looked like the Shun Goku Satsu, grabbing the startled teen from behind.

When the explosions and girlish screams had died down, the Brazilian had been thrown from the ring, landing head first on the concrete floor and rendering him unconscious, while the gaudily dressed one lay spread-eagled on his back, smoking and battered but conscious, giving the referee a thumbs up as he proved he was still, despite appearances, very much alive.

Something Gouki intended to correct right that second. Normally he didn't pick on the weak, but the…sacrilege he had just witnessed, this perverse mockery of Ansatsuken's most vaunted technique, had ignited a need for VENGEANCE that just would NOT be denied.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dan Hibiki grinned for the cameras, covered in bandages but otherwise okay, holding the Silver Trophy for second place over his head, tears streaming down his cheeks. True he personally believed he could have gotten the gold, maybe, but the fact was he'd actually WON in a tournament! With Ryu, Ken, and a whole host of other notables competing!

Even the fact that Sakura, his 'student' and friend, had somehow beaten him for the Gold was of little import, the fact was that, for once, Dan was in the limelight, and was enjoying every second of it.

The match-ups had been epic, once the cannon fodder had been done away with, though the semi-final match-ups between Ken and Ryu had been the REAL draw. Even Dan, loathe as he was to admit it, had been enawed by his onetime fellow students as they'd unleashed the full destructive might of Gouken-ryu Ansatsuken's power on one another. Needless to say Ryu won, though Ken took it well and had stuck around to watch his disciple's match-up, saying that he was looking forward to seeing how Sakura was going to fare against his own student.

'Like MY disciple could lose to that little brat.' Dan scoffed smugly, though his jaw still ached from Sean's Shoryuken, not to mention his ribs from the young man's kicks…and his nose from the head-butt. 'With this, Saikyo-ryu's name will spread further!'

"Hibiki-san? Are you alright?" Sakura asked, ever concerned for her strange, delusional friend and one-time sensei as she lloked down on him from her position on the first place stand, wincing from the camera flashes "You look like you're in pain there."

"Just tears of joy Sakura!" the pink-clad man assured the girl, though if he were honest with himself he was in a world of pain. The Otoko Michi might be his strongest technique, but DAMN if it didn't hurt like a bitch. But then he HAD based it off of something he'd once seen in Gouken's sealed scrolls, one of the reasons the old hermit had chucked him off the mountain, so it stood to reason that kick-ass power came with a hefty price, namely pain.

But Dan would've gladly put up with such pain for the memory of the absolutely GOBSMACKED look on Masters' face as Sean had been carried out of the stadium on a stretcher, he'd taken a picture of it and was intending to have it mounted on the dojo wall when he got home.

"If you say so…" Sakura muttered, a bead of sweat sliding down her head as she watched the man raise his trophy over his head, crying out for his father as he always did 'Hibiki-san's so strange…'

Not that the girl gave much thought to this. Dan Hibiki had been one of her more eccentric friends for some time now. Even though she was notably stronger than him in certain areas, make that a lot of areas, he'd always stood by her when she needed it, picking up rumors of Ryu-san on the street fighter grapevine and passing them on to her when she came to visit his Dojo, which surprisingly had picked up a few students since the time she'd last been there.

In fact, if it weren't for Dan signing her up as a member of his team for the tournament, Sakura probably would've never got her chance to face off against Ryu in the finals, though her idol was obviously still drained from fighting Ken Masters the previous round, and so had humbly stood down after a clash of Hadouken, telling her to keep practicing.

Oh yes, the budding street fighter decided, putting up with Dan's eccentric behavior was well worth the benefits of having him as a friend.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I can't believe this!" Ken muttered for the umpteenth time, scowling across the crowd at the jubilant form of Dan Hibiki "Both of us get knocked out near the finals and THIS clown makes it into the top three?"

"Master always said to never underestimate an opponent." Ryu pointed out, amused with the situation if he was honest with himself. Dan may have been thrown out of Gouken's dojo, literally, for his desire to kill Sagat, but Ryu had missed the bumbling man's presence when they were younger, it had taken longer for him to warm up to Ken than it had to Dan. "How's Sean taking it?" he asked, referring to Ken's pupil, who he noted had been making some improvement during the match.

"How would YOU take it?" Ken muttered, though he did smirk guiltily. Sean took great offence at being compared to Dan, whom most fighters considered to be nothing but a joke, comedic relief best suited for a half-time show than any real competition. The fact the Brazilian had LOST to the pink-clad man was quite an upset.

"Sakura's improved quite well too." Ryu noted, watching as the ecstatic teen put Dan in a headlock, cheering for the cameras whilst giving victory signs deapite the look of agonizing pain on Dan's face "Her Hadouken in particular."

"I heard she learnt how to fire it from watching Dan's Gadouken." Ken supplied, smirking at the look of shock on his rivals face "Yeah, my reaction was the same…guess the dumbass makes for a good teacher in his own way."

Ryu nodded, looking back towards the stands, where Dan was raising his silver trophy over his head, tears streaming down his face as he cried out, as always, for his father. 'Ah well…there's always next year.'

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Dan limped happily towards the locker rooms, having just finished promoting Saikyo-ryu on camera and ready to head back home triumphant, sort of, and feeling pretty chuffed with himself. He'd even managed to rib Ken about his disciple's performance, as well questioning the man's ability to teach, which put the pan-American champion in quite a mood. Not that he could do anything about it as, for once, Dan had been RIGHT, though Ryu actually coming out and congratulating him had taken the wind out of Dan's sails.

'First time one of them actually thought I was worth something…' he muttered, recalling his eviction from the dojo all those years ago, how Ryu had seemed the only one upset he was leaving 'Then again, that's Ryu in a hand basket, credit where it's due.'

A snapping sound from below drew his attention to his geta, cursing at the snapped thread, stooping down to fix it even as something hurtled over his head, almost severing his ponytail.

'There a breeze in here?' Dan wondered, only to shiver as whatever passed over him stood up, glowering at him with the reddest, ANGRIEST eyes he'd seen since that Interpol officer with the crush on Ryu tried to arrest some scantily dressed kunoichi chick with a fan. Eyes set in a face that would've scared the bejeezus out of a mountain, framed by Crimson locks done up in a lotus-bud top-knot.

"Uh…can I help you buddy?" the master of Saikyo-ryu asked, a little unnerved by the intensity of the man's stare, only to yelp and roll to the side to avoid what looked a hell of a lot like a hurricane kick that, to his horror, sliced right through his trophy "SUNNUVA-! OH IT'S ON NOW YOU MOTHER-!"

A swift series of flying kicks brought him within range of his assailant, who merely grabbed his foot out of mid-air and threw him to the ground, Dan countered by striking out with his feet, aiming for the ankles, only for his assailant to leap into the air. "Gotcha! KORYUKEN!" Dan cheered, rising from his crouch, his punch clipping the man on the chin, but doing little more than piss him off further "Uh…oops?"

The retaliatory Shoryuken sent Dan crashing into the ceiling, digging a trench through it until he was tossed clear, rolling to a stop on the path.

"…ow…" the disoriented master of Saikyo-ryu muttered, rising painstakingly to his feet, shaking the little Blanka chibis out of his sight, only to pale as he realized the shadow he was kneeling in was getting bigger.

"MISOGI!"

If anyone had asked Dan later he'd have boasted that his sharp reflexes had allowed him to roll out of the path of the blow, but in reality, his foot got caught in a divot, causing him to fall backwards, out of the path of the blow that would've rendered him in half, Dan rolling with it to put some extra distance between them.

"What the hell is your problem?!" Dan yelled out, rolling out of the path of a fiery Hadouken he could've sworn only Ryu could pull off "You trying to kill me?!"

His answer was an Hadouken launched from on high, which left a small crater in the ground from where he'd been standing two seconds ago.

"Stupid question!" Dan yelled, rolling to his feet and posing "Apparently my name's attracted the big guns! Already I got people challenging me!" he smirked, gesturing for his opponent to draw closer "C'mon then! I dare ya!"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ryu-san?" Sakura asked, looking up as her idol and role model froze in his tracks, a look of intense focus she normally associated with him sensing some new threat on his face "Is something wrong?"

"You feelin' that too Ryu?" Ken asked, looking around warily as he felt the telltale signs of murderous intent grow in the air, setting his hackles on edge, like the feeling you get from walking onto a static ladden carpet.

"He's here…" Ryu muttered, eyes like flints as he whirled round towards the main building "GOUKI!"

"MAYRIMASHTA?!?!?"

Ryu blinked as something crashed down from on high in a smoking mess, coming to a stop right on top of Sakura's sneakers, earning a shriek from the girl as she punted it away, only to gape as it crashed into a wall. "H-HIBIKI-SAN?!" the girl stammered, eyes wide in alarm as she eyed her singed, battered, decidedly NOT happy friend as he somehow mustered the strength to give her a thumbs up "What happened?!"

The answer came, again from on high, as a black-clad man with blazing red hair and eyes crashed in front of them like a panther, leaking murderous intent.

"GOUKI!" Ryu yelled, moving into a fighting stance, ready to challenge the master of fists once again, only to blink as he was ignored as his master's murderer advanced on the downed master of Saikyo-ryu like some wrathful deity. "Uh…hello?"

"Dude…burn…"Ken chuckled, looking between the Master of Fists and his rival with barely suppressed humor. Ryu, with a frown that was equal parts irritated and insulted, marched up and grabbed Gouki by the shoulder.

When the world stopped spinning he found himself embedded in a wall, upside down, with a imprint of Gouki's backhand on his face.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ken whistled, looking from his concussed rival, who was slowly sliding to the floor, a distressed Sakura running to his aid, before turning his gaze towards Gouki, who was holding Dan of his feet by his hair. "That's not good." The American muttered, only to wince as Gouki slammed Dan into a wall so hard he punched through it, following it up with a close range one-inch punch that sent him out the other side "Okay, THAT'S not good!"

"Masters!" a familiar voice called out, Ken turning to find a familiar oriental Interpol officer racing towards him in her usual blue chinese opera outfit and spiked bracelets "What the hell is going on?!"

"Pleasure to see you too officer Lee," Ken chuckled, his tone mildly hurt, though it was simply an attempt to fluster the woman known by many as one of the highest ranked fighters in the world "I mean how long has it been?"

"A year and a half." Chun-Li shot back instantly, her tone and posture all business as she looked around the damaged walkway with her usual determined gaze "Now what happened here?"

"Gouki happened." Ken shot back, earning a look of alarm from the woman, for no fighter worth his salt didn't know the name of the Master of Fists "Yeah, we didn't sense him till now either."

"Is Ryu okay?" Chun-Li asked, regretting it instantly as Masters gave her a knowing look and smirk "Keep your mind out of the gutter Mr. Masters." She warned him "We both know that Ryu's like a powder-keg when it comes to Gouki."

"That he is…" Ken agreed, honestly not fathoming WHY Ryu felt the need to challenge the Master of Fists every time they met. Yes he killed their master, a sore point neither of them would forget any time soon, but hadn't Gouken always preached that revenge was not the path of a true warrior? And it wasn't like Gouki had a habit of killing people like Bison either…hell, he'd actually done the world a favor by killing the twisted sunuvabitch once already, the Bison running around now wasn't even HALF as powerful as the first time they met at the first World Warrior Tournament.

"Anyways, believe it or not it isn't Ryu that Gouki's set his eye on this time." Ken assured the Interpol officer, thumbing over his shoulder at his rival, who was being shaken back to consciousness by a frantic Sakura, the spectators sweat-dropping at the sight "Believe it or not, he's after Dan."

"Dan?" Chun-Li repeated, blinking in confusion at the American's words, as if she'd somehow forgotten how to speak english in the last ten seconds "Dan Hibiki? He's Fighting DAN HIBIKI?"

"Wouldn't really call it fighting…" Ken muttered, as one of Dan's comical screams filled the air, shortly followed by an audible explosion that rocked the area "But…yeah."

"Kami-sama…" Chun-Li muttered, pushing past the blonde with a look of professional concern on her face "That idiot…He's going to get himself killed!"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gouki had to admit, as he watched Dan pick himself up off the floor for what had to be the umpteenth time in the last ten minutes, that the pink-clad buffoon could certainly take a beating.

At first he'd been holding back out of spite, believing the defiler of Ansatsuken was undeserving of a quick, painless death, but as the man continued to get back on his feet, Gouki found himself putting more and more power into each blow, only for the master of Saikyo-ryu to come back for more.

'What is with this man…' he muttered darkly, gazing into Dan's eyes, or what was visible off them from behind the swelling. Dan's face had been battered so much it looked like lumpy play-dough, and his stance, not only loose, was offset by his waving dizzily from side to side.

"Zhat all youse got?" the battered fighter managed to get out, several teeth comically missing from his mouth as he gestured for Gouki to advance "Didn' heah no bell…"

In truth, Gouki was a little intrigued by the clowns durability…admittedly he'd known several people who'd lasted this long, the ancient assassin Gen for example, but that was mostly because they had the skill to hold him off with their own techniques and strength. But here was someone, the physical equivalent of a starved, three-legged Chihuahua to his Rabid Doberman, who by nothing more than sheer will, or stupidity, kept getting up when by all rights he should be a greasy smear on the pavement.

But for all his intrigue, that still wasn't enough to garner Dan a reprieve from the wrath of the Master of Fists, for even as sirens began tearing through the air, Gouki began channeling his killing intent throughout his entire being, his body glowing a dark, murderous crimson-laced black as he began to hover slightly off the ground.

"Prepare yourself…" Gouki called out, hovering slowly towards the doomed fool, his eyes glowing blood-red, only to widen in disbelief as Dan suddenly grinned and crossed his arms before him.

"Youse fell fer it!" the pink-clad master of Saikyo-ryu taunted, a light glow covering his body as he began to hover himself, advancing on the momentarily stunned Gouki "Feel th' might of Saikyo-ryu's throngetht technique!"

'Such…INSOLENCE!' Gouki snarled, recognizing the mockery of his vaunted technique and pumping even more of the Satsui no Hadou into his own move, even as Chun-Li, Ken, Sakura and a half-conscious Ryu stumbled round the corner.

"SHUN GOKU SATSU! / OTOKO MICHI!"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sakura screamed as the world went white, shielding her eyes with her arm, the other supporting Ryu, a fierce wind kicking up, sending dust and litter flying in all directions. Up front, Chun-Li and Ken braced themselves against the wind, their eyes fighting to remain open through the glare, only to be knocked off their feet as a shockwave crashed through the area like ripple in a lake, setting off car alarms and shattering every window within a ten mile range.

"JEEZUS!" Ken swore, fingers digging trenches in the grass as he fought to keep his footing "What in the hell's going on?!"

"Hibiki!" Chun-Li called out, shielding her eyes as she tried to catch sight of the buffoon in the light, only to yell as the light intensified yet again, a second, larger shockwave tearing through the area, sending them all crashing to the ground yet again.

And then it stopped, the roar died down to a low rumble, fading into the afternoon sky as dust slowly drifted around them. Ken, the closest to the scene, quickly leapt to his feet and raced back to the battle-zone, only to pull up short, eyes widening in disbelief as he gaped down at the scene before him.

A massive, make that GARGANTUAN crater had formed in the middle of the street, easily thirty feet in diameter, and twice as deep, the rocks beneath cracking as they cooled, showing they'd evidently suffered from extreme heat, some of them having taken on a glassy sheen.

There was no sign of either Gouki or Dan.

Chun-Li, who had by this time made her way to Ken's side, breathed something that sounded like a prayer in hushed mandarin, her eyes wide with disbelief as she took in the destruction below.

"Masters-san?" Sakura called out, jogging up to the older Street Fighters, a dazed Ryu following her unassisted "What's going…!" she trailed off, eyes wide at the sight of the crater, looking around in sheer awe at the amount of destruction "Wha…how…"

"I can't sense Gouki's killing intent anywhere." Ryu note, his face solemn as he eyed the crater with half lidded eyes "Not only that…but I can't sense his ki either…he's just…gone."

"Wha…what about Hibiki-san?" Sakura asked, looking around desperately for her friend, turning to look at Ken, only for the American to look away, his fists clenched tight "No…Ryu-san! Can you sense his-?!" she trailed off at the apologetic look in Ryu's eyes, shaking her head in disbelief .

"I'm sorry, Sakura." Ryu stated, his eyes downcast and his shoulders slumped in depression. Sakura stepped back, shaking her head in disbelief as tears began to form, only to look up as a hand dropped on her shoulder, gazing up at Chun-Li, the stern Interpol officer's eyes filled with understanding.

"Hibiki…san…" Sakura stammered, tears falling freely down her cheek as Chun-Li hugged her close, the officer's own eyes clamped shut as the girl screamed "HIBIKI-SAAAAAAN-!!!!!"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And there you have it...

Are Dan And Gouki gone for good? How will the world react to the dissapearance of the Master of Fists and Dan?

Tune in next time to find out!

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

A Little earlier than anticipated, but considering the reaction the first chapter recieved, I figured what the hell.

This chapter mostly focuses on the after effects of the fight between Gouki and Dan, you'llhave towait until the end to see what happened to our heroes.

Dan: Does Gouki qualify as a Hero?

Gouki: *growl*

Dan: AH! Don't kill me!

Roll camera

* * *

Round 2.

The weeks following the events at the World Warrior Tournament were solemn indeed. Word had spread of Dan's, no doubt 'epic', battle with Gouki, the infamous Master of Fists. People that had scorned the master of Saikyo-ryu now spoke of him in hushed disbelief, as one would a terrier that stared down a lion, or rather a panzer tank.

Scientists and forensics experts had flocked to the crater to examine it, and all agreed, possibly for the first time, that there was absolutely no trace of either fighter to be found, as if they'd been rendered to their composite atoms and scattered in all directions in the blasts epicenter.

This did NOTHING to curb the Street Fighter grapevine, and within another week, fighters from all around the globe were flocking to what was now being referred to as 'The Crater', some simply trying to see if it was true, others wishing wholeheartedly that it wasn't.

One of the former was the world renowned Emperor of Muay-Thai and reformed Shadow law operative Sagat. The giant, bald-headed Thai towered over the rest of the onlookers standing at the lip of said crater, his sole eye narrowed as he gazed down at the scene before him. Sagat knew he was flawed, only recently, with the aid of Dhalsim and a moment of epiphany, had he and Ryu put their differences aside and come to consider each other as rivals, rather than mortal enemies. The Scar on his chest, once a mark of his grudge against the bandana sporting street fighter, he now carried as a badge of honor, a tribute to one of the few people to have knocked him from his feet.

His right eye, gouged out from an accidental blow of a rival long-since dead, twinged behind his eye patch as he gaze down at the spot said rival's son had, finally, bitten off more than he could chew.

'Was it my fault for throwing the match to him?' the giant wondered, recalling the bumbling, pink-robed son of Go Hibiki as he swore revenge for his murdered sire before him all those years ago, hounding his footsteps for a challenge that Sagat finally granted over a year ago 'Had I pounded some sense into him, would things have turned out differently?'

Another notable figure stood in the crowd, though whilst Sagat easily stood out with his impressive height, build, and eye-catching scar, this warrior chose to remain in shadow, gazing down at Gouki's last battleground alongside the milling crowd.

'It just doesn't seem probable…' Gen muttered, the ancient assassin's pale, pupil-less eyes narrowing at The Crater 'and yet, here is irrefutable proof.'

Gen, upon hearing the news of the battle had actually turned own a contract kill from the triads, something only HE could get away with, to find out if this was truth or whether someone was trying to pull a fast one. He'd honestly been more incline towards the latter, especially when he learned that Gouki had been fighting Dan Hibiki when he'd apparently 'vanished', but the old master was one of the few, if the only, to have survived the Master of Fists' vaunted Shun Goku Satsu technique, and could tell by the remaining aura of chi and murderous intent that had embedded itself in The Crater that Gouki had indeed seen fit to use said move on the buffoon at the least.

But that was where things got a little strange, for while he could detect the lingering traces of the murderous chi of the Shun Goku Satsu, there was a second, almost undetectable chi, that to his finely honed senses, felt strangely similar, but at the same time the exact opposite of Gouki's own.

'It's almost as if he ran smack dab into a mirror…' Gen muttered, trying to visualize two Gouki's performing Shun Goku Satsu on one another 'But no…the second chi has no killing intent whatsoever…even if it did mimic his movements, the Shun Goku Satsu wouldn't have activated.'

Stroking his beard in thought, the one-time master of Chun-Li and former scourge of the Chinese triads retreated back into the crowd, his mind whirling in thought, even as Sagat left to contemplate this recent turn of events himself.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Still can't believe he's gone…" Ken muttered, sitting on the porch of his villa in Okayama, tossing an energy drink to Ryu, who caught it out of mid-air, the two having just finished a grueling spar "I mean…sure he was annoying and all…" he scowled, recalling the ribbing he and Sean had received, not to mention various other instances where Dan let his mouth run "…really…REALLY annoying…but he was the kind of annoying that grew on ya."

Ryu nodded, recalling Dan's antics at the dojo, how he'd one time tried to convince Gouken to take him back in, only to be roped into a challenge against both Ken and Ryu. Ryu had to chuckle at that memory, while he wasn't one to pick on the weak, there was just something quite satisfying about watching Dan soar through the air courtesy of a Shoryuken to the kisser…the man had turned being pummeled into an art of its own really.

"I mean, he was like the background noise in a crowded hallway..." Ken continued, shaking his head "Like if you turned round in the street you'd see him there, rolling around like the idiot he was or striking poses for little kids." He rolled his eyes "You know, I think I saw a few of his students coming back from a lesson once…not a bruise on them."

"Not all teachers use their hands to do so." Ryu reminded the pan-American champion, though Gouken had been pretty hands on in his teachings himself. He believed it developed character.

"Yeah I know, but get this!" Ken insisted, waving his hands wide for emphasis, sending his drink all over the place "The little munchkins were actually grinning! Kept going on about how 'cool' 'Dan-sensei' was!"

"Dan always did have a way with kids." Ryu noted with a small smile, recalling the times when young visitors to the temple would laugh at the antics of Gouken's most…eccentric student, while their chaperones spoke with the master, paying their respects.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sakura sat, huddled with her head in her knees in the silent, empty halls of the Saikyo-Ryu dojo. While the halls were normally empty anyways, as Dan's clientele wasn't that good, the wooden structure seemed even more so without it's master's seemingly limitless energy bouncing around inside it.

'It's just not the same without Hibiki-san…' the teenager note, watching the phantom images of the man as he cavorted around the place, showing off his moves and getting injured in the process. Not that it mattered, most of his students were little kids that joined up because A, they thought he was funny, and B, their parents believed this was a better after-school activity than letting them learn REAL martial arts.

'Jerks…' she muttered, having overheard one group of mothers saying just as much as she walked past the dojo towards home 'Sure he's nowhere near Ryu-san's level, but Hibiki-san's a decent fighter!' she lowered her head 'He is…'

"Sakura?" a guttural voice called out, drawing her attention to 'Jimmy' Blanka, Dan's closest friend and the 'legendary wild-man of Brazil' as he came in with some snacks "Want some?"

Sakura smiled at the man, a little bemused at how used to him the area had gotten to the feral looking, green-skinned man with the shocking orange mane. But then again, they'd come to associate him with Hibiki-san, and while the master of Saikyo-ryu was a little…alright, he was several types of odd, it didn't change the fact he looked out for the community…and was pretty good with kids too.

"Brought some bento…" Blanka offered, handing her one of the cheap, store bought lunch-boxes that he and Dan tended to live on, which surprisingly enough, tasted pretty damn good all things considered.

"Thanks, Jimmy-san." The teenage street fighter offered, accepting the dish and tucking into it ravenously, though not with her usual energy, which Blanka noted with a most solemn expression.

"It's just not the same…" the wild man muttered, eyeing his own barely touched box lunch with a sigh, recalling how he and Dan would battle it out for the little sausage figures, one of the few times Dan was actually nigh unbeatable, it was actually scary how hunger could make his friend so dangerous.

"I know what you mean…" Sakura sighed, looking down at the floor "Hibiki-san always seemed to liven the place up…" she eyed the unnaturally silent walls with sad eyes "It's just not the same without him here."

Blanka said nothing, merely sitting there next to his friend, the two sharing their grief in silence as they recalled the man they'd both come to love in their own way as a friend.

Were it not for Dan, Blanka would most likely never have stepped out into the human world, the bumbling, pink clad man having stumbled into his jungle abode and gotten lost trying to find the way out, half-starved and covered in jungle-scum and feces. Blanka had dragged the semi-conscious man to a river and promptly dunked him in it, prompting a sputtering revival as Dan simultaneously washed the filth of days off his frame and drank his fill, somehow managing to trap a fish or three in the folds of his gi.

Blanka had watched the man as he lit a fire, mesmerized by the crackling flames, only to snap out of his thoughts as Dan offered him one of the fish, fried to a crisp and smelling absolutely delicious.

"_You saved my life back there!"_ the younger Dan had exclaimed, a beaming smile on his face as he munched on his own fish _"You're a man among men my friend!"_

Of course, Blanka hadn't spoken to another human for years, not many dared to traverse so deeply into the Brazilian rainforest he'd claimed as home, so it took some time for him to remember how to speak human. But then it took almost a week for Dan to find the exit, so he had plenty of time to learn about the outside world.

A knock at the door drew the wild man out of his thoughts, looking to Sakura in confusion, the girl returning the gesture before getting up to answer the door. She blinked, eyes widening slightly at the gaggle of kids that had formed outside, some with their training gear already on, others holding small backpacks.

"S-sakura-sempai…" one of them asked, using the title Dan had insisted they call her by. He was one of the regulars to the class, who had for most of his young life been unable to join a club because of health problems. One week after joining his breathing had eased and he found himself actually able of keeping up with the other kids during playtime. "Is…Dan-sensei really gone?"

"He's not gone for good…right?" a large boy asked, once the source of ridicule for his weight, now a force to be reckoned with, for a middle-schooler, in the ring.

Sakura eyed the group in amazement, taking in their desperate, longing gazes, realizing for the first time just the kind of impact Dan had on their little lives, before smiling at them and stepping out to greet them. "Heck no!" she insisted, striking a pose with one fist held up to her face, the other on her hip "He's just on a training trip! When he gets back here he'll be even stronger than ever!" she grinned at them "In the meantime, what say we keep up our training so he won't be disappointed in us when he gets back?!"

"YOSHAAA!" the youths cheered, striking little fists into the air as they charged into the dojo, a bewildered Blanka watching on as they quickly began running through their katas under the watchful eye of a beaming Sakura, who laughed and guided them through them with a smile on her face.

'Sakura…' Blanka muttered, watching the young woman as she laughed at a little girl that had knocked an older boy to the floor 'You're a lot stronger than you look.'

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Detective Chun-Li Xiang sighed as she leant back in her chair, pushing her glasses up as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. The Interpol officer was dressed in a sleeveless blouse and black pants instead of her traditional fighting outfit, a pair of sensible shoes adorning her feet, rather than the white, lace-up boots.

She was just finished her report on the event from the world Warrior tournament, more specifically the last sighting of both the infamous Master of Fists and the comical Dan Hibiki. The office was still in shock over the outcome of the finals, everyone who had known Ryu and Ken were competing had placed money on either of the Ansatsuken fighters to come out on top.

It almost made Chun-Li's day to learn that Dan's coming second had ruined so many wagers. Almost.

She sighed, looking over the pink clad man's admittedly very short profile in the Street Fighter Database. All notable martial artists had at least one file, particularly those that had run-ins with Shadow-law. The sole exceptions were, of course, Gouki, who was damn near impossible to find if he didn't want to be, her own master, Gen, who had enough ties to ensure he remained off the record, and Dan, whom no-one ever deemed worthy of more than a short paragraph or three.

Chun-Li had to admit even she, despite having met the man before, didn't really know the bumbling buffoon that well. He was crass, loved his food, was generally upstanding despite his tendency to put his foot in his mouth, and from a normal persons point of view, was a competent martial artist. True she'd seen better, you didn't earn the title of strongest woman in the world without going through a few challengers first, but Chun Li had to admit there had never been a fighter like Dan.

'A lot of his moves were eerily similar to Ryu and Masters' style…' she noted, 'Albeit horribly lacking in power.' She corrected, having seen the devastation the two fighters could do with a simple uppercut compared to Dan's own. 'If anything, it was like he only grasped the idea of the moves, not the heart of them.'

Shaking her head, she closed the window on her computer and stretched, getting up off her chair to grab a coffee from the pot in the hallway, just in time to see her chief coming towards her with some stiff in a suit. "Li, this is Rokubunji from the Japanese branch." The chief introduced, frowning at her raised eyebrow "He's here to talk about the…incident, at the tournament." He nodded at the man "She'll set you right."

"Rokubunji?" Chun-Li repeated, earning a bemused, long suffering grin from the man, who shrugged helplessly as he shook her hand. 'No real strength...probably works out to stay fit but that's it.' she noted.

"Freak coincidence." He assured her, his face young, the smile that graced it good natured, as if it came easily to him "You wouldn't believe the gripe I've gotten over the years lemme tell you."

Chun-Li nodded, gesturing for him to enter her office as she closed the door behind them "You wanted to talk to me about something?" she asked, pulling up a chair as the man sat across from her.

"Yes." Rokubunji nodded, pulling out a file from his briefcase "The Japanese government has been in quite an uproar after the recent events, The Master of Fists is infamous in his notoriety after all." He shook his head "We've been after him for years, but the fact is we've never gotten a good case. The only actual times he's murdered, the victims have been megalomaniacs like Vega."

'And no-one would want to arrest the man for THAT.' Chun-Li muttered, recalling the original Vega with a growl 'Hell, they probably threw Gouki a parade the first time he killed the bastard.'

"As it stands though," Rokubunji continued, "The Master of Fists…Gouki is it?" he asked, continuing at her nod, "Has come synonymous with fear in the martial arts underworld…many organizations fear to step up to claim Shadowlaw's former rank because it may draw his attention to them."

He passed her a file, Chun-Li looking it over with growing alarm at the sheer number of fledgling crime-groups that had sprung up since the fall of Vega's original organization. "In short," Rokubunji continued "We were hoping that Interpol would agree to ensure that rumours of his demise were…exaggerated?"

"Basically you want us to pretend that Gouki survived the explosion?" Chun-Li asked, cocking an eyebrow at the man as he nodded conspiratorially at her, his eyes solemn "What about Hibiki?"

"Who? Oh, the man he fought…" Rokubunji recalled, flipping through his notes for a moment "Yes…tragic that…we've already set up a small, private service for him…he doesn't seem to have any family anywhere."

Chun-Li flinched at that. She had been a rookie officer at the time, set to tailing Sagat, who had recently joined up with Shadowlaw. She'd witnessed as one of his rivals, a prodigal mixed-martial arts practitioner called Go, had accosted the emperor of Muay-Thai, the resulting battle costing the bald giant his eye, and the man his life. 'I actually had to hold Dan back to keep him from getting killed.' She muttered, recalling the struggles of the emotional man as he reached towards his fallen father 'Man...talk about karma.'

"In any case," Rokubunji muttered, "We intend to let the rumors filter steadily into the grapevine first…maybe set up a few 'sightings' now and again." He looked up at the inspector "I know you aren't one for such subterfuge Inspector Li, but it's this or we'll be swamped by renegade Street Fighting gangs turned drug lords."

Chun-Li nodded, holding out a hand to shake the man's hand in agreement, calling out to him as he left her office. "Out of curiosity…" she asked, her face completely straight as he turned to look at her "What was your first name?"

"Shinji." The man offered, a self-mocking smirk on his youngish face at the ribbing he'd suffered at a child "Laughs all around back then."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Yo Sean!" one of the teen's friends called out from a car as they watched the Brazilian practicing his moves at the Masters' beach house "We heard you got your ass handed to you by Dan! You bugging man?"

"Yo!" Sean yelled pointing at the gang with a frown "Don't be dissing Dan A'ight? That mutha's tight so far as I'm concerned!"

The group blinked, one of them sliding his shades off to make sure this was actually Sean they were talking to. After all, Sean was always mouthing off and flying off the handle at being compared to the pink clad street fighter, hell, he's actually turned 'Don't call me Dan!' into a slogan amongst his growing fan base. "Dude…you feelin' alright?" one of them asked, looking the sweating teen over as he started doing light jabs, bouncing on his feet on the sand.

"Fine…" Sean shot back, a little breathlessly as he dodged around an invisible opponent. But truth be told, Ken Master's disciple was anything BUT fine.

True, when he'd come to in the infirmary at the tournament, he'd had to be tied down to keep from wigging out at the fact that he'd lost to Dan. In public no less! On pay per view, global satellite transmission! The ribbing he got from Ken hadn't been a slice either. But then he'd heard about Dan going toe-to toe Gouki.

The Goddamned Master of Fists himself, famed for only challenging worthy opponents, and for repeatedly beating Ryu into the pavement, had actually challenged the master of Saikyo-ryu to a fight!

Suddenly being compared to the pink-clad man wasn't so bad…but Sean'd be DAMNED if he let anyone think he was any less than the man.

KLUNK!

"SUNNUVA-!" the Brazilian cursed, having accidentally stubbed his tow against the hubcap of his gangs' ride, the group laughing their asses off as he hobbled around holding his abused foot. It seemed that Dan had some competition after all.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few weeks later, and a small service was held on Gouken's temple, which Ryu and Ken had agreed, as the point of origin, was a fitting place for Dan's saga to end.

Quite a few people had shown up, most of them Street Fighters but a few people from Dan's neighborhood had also come to pay their respects.

Blanka was there, looking uncomfortable in a rent-a-tux that was intended for a man two sizes smaller, his mother fussing at him to quit pulling at his tie, the woman having flown all the way from Brazil to be here.

Sakura was there, of course, holding a picture of the late master of Saikyo-ryu, dressed up in her schools formal uniform of lieu of a black dress, a somber looking Karin Kanzuki standing next to her, dressed, of course, in a designer model black gown.

Ryu and Ken, the former dressed in a black Karate Gi, stood nearby, watching the proceedings, Ken with his arm around a pregnant Eliza, both dressed in more traditional European funeral garb. Edward Honda had come as well, both at Ryu's invitation and out of respect for a 'fellow Japanese fighter', the former yokozuna decked out in a tux that fit him rather well.

Chun Li attended in a formal dress suit, black professional skirt and jacket over a white blouse, with her hair done up in its traditional buns. Beside her stood long-time friend Cammy White, on leave from Delta Red and dressed in a dress uniform for the occasion, her young face notably somber.

Sagat had surprised everyone by attending his funeral, showing up dressed in a rather well cut suit that looked like hadn't been worn for some time, but no-one refused him and he didn't make excuses, merely nodded at Ryu and stood there, looking down at the headstone that had been erected for Go's son.

A priest came and said a few words, lighting the incense and chanting the sutras over Dan's photo whilst the onlookers watched on. And then it was over, everyone bowing their respects to the photo, then each other, before going about their business.

In the minds of the Street Fighter community, Dan Hibiki was finally at peace.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'Oh god…' Dan moaned, his eyes screwed shut as he lay spread-eagled on the floor, the sounds of traffic and pedestrian footsteps not too far away 'What the hell hit me…'

Opening his eyes, the master of Saikyo-ryu was met with the blurry, shadowed view of a deserted alleyway, well, deserted save for the sacks of pungent garbage that…now that he thought of it…smelled pretty damn good.

'Okay…the hell did I do last night?' Dan muttered, shaking his head to clear such thoughts out of his head. If garbage was stating to smell appetizing he MUST be hung over 'Last thing I remember was that red-eyed guy coming at me…'

"Finally awake are we?" a dark, murderous voice growled, Dan whirling, round, only to stumble to the floor, blinking through the dizziness at the dark end of the alley, a familiar pair off red eyes glaring out at him.

"You!" he yelled, leaping to his feet, only to stumble again as he tried to stand upright, his spine protesting the movement and forcing him on all fours "Come back for round two have ya?!"

"Unbelievable…" the voice growled, a strange tone to it, like a cat's, as the crimson eyes drew closer "To think I could be brought so low by such a buffoon…"

Dan blinked, wondering what on earth his attacker was going on about, his eyes widening as the crimson orbs drew closer, their owner stepping out of the shadows to reveal…a black cat with a mane of spiky red fur, the kanji for 'Ten' on it's forehead. "…What the hell?" he muttered, staring face to face with the rather grumpy looking feline as it glared at him "A Nekomata?"

The cat swiped it's claws across his face, eyes blazing with killing intent as it did so "DO I LOOK LIKE A NEKOMATA YOU BUFOON?!" It bellowed, in a voice identical to a certain Master of Fists, crimson waves rising off the fur in it's ire.

Dan howled and bowled over backwards, pressing his hands to his face, only to blink as he realized they weren't his hands, but paws, and that his handsome face felt undeniably…hairy.

Looking into a nearby puddle, the master of Saikyo-Ryu gaped in horror at the pink furred, brown forelock sporting face of the cat gazing back at him and let out a howl that scared every bird within the city block into flight.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And so the adventure begins...

Bet none of you saw THIS one coming...except the precious few I spilled the beans with earlier of course.

What? You didn't think I'd just toss two Street Fighters into the plotline for Sailor Moon without SOME kind of hindrance did you? No offense but Even Dan could take on the Youma and villians in that show without a struggle, adding Gouki to the mix is just plain overkill.

You'll get a proper description of Neko Dan and Gouki in Chapter three...if you send in plenty of reviews that is.

Neko-Gouki: You will do so...or I will *pauses, glares at Dan*

Neko-Dan: *paused while licking groin*...Whuht?

R&R plz!

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you all for your support, the reviews were most fullfilling.

Dan: I still can't believe you turned us into cats!

Gouki:...*glower*...

Kyugan: Well look, if I didn't do something you two would NEVER get along...and besides, there's plot development to consider.

Dan: But why CATS?!

Kyugan: Because Cats and Sailor Moon are like Manga and win, they go perfectly together.

Gouki:...He own's nothing.

Kyugan: *keels over* RIGHT THROUGH MY HEART WHY DON'T YOU?!?!

* * *

Round 3.

"This is not happening…this is NOT happening…" Dan repeated, pacing around on all fours, his ears flat against his skull as he did so. "I'm in a dream…that's it…a wonderful…morphine induced dream…and I'm gonna wake up any second now and-!" he tripped over his own fore paws, still unused to walking with them, and smashed his tender nose into the unforgiving pavement "ITEEEE!!!!!"

"Still think this is a dream?" Gouki growled, glowering at the idiot from his spot atop a discarded box of beer. The Master of Fists seethed as he lay there, his black tail unconsciously twitching from side to side in response to his irritation. To think that he, the true master of Ansatsuken, could be brought to such a dismal low! And by such a buffoon no less!

'At the very least I'm a NORMAL colour…' he muttered, eyeing the buffoon's new form with dark amusement. While Gouki's cat form was that of a large, black tom with a fiery mane of spiky red fur in the shape of his original topknot, Dan's was that of a smaller cat with bright, bubblegum pink fur, save for a black patch of fur on the chest, and a single, brown forelock that stood out of his skull like a splinter, matched only by the back of his ears. Even the Kanji for 'Saikyo' on the feline's head couldn't rid him of the fact he looked, to all intent's and purposes, like a female.

"This…how did this…" Dan stammered, looking over his forepaws in disbelief, only to look up at the bemused features of Gouki, alarm and confusion giving way to angry accusation "YOU! This is all your doing!"

"Oh yes, because I've always wanted to be a cat." Gouki growled glaring at the imbecile as his tail continued to lash, "If anything this is YOUR fault, if you hadn't defiled Ansatsuken with your buffoonery, this would never have happened."

"Hey! How'd a poser like YOU learn about Ansatsuken?" Dan asked, looking up at the black cat in confusion, only to pale and backpedal fearfully as Gouki sat up, eyes BLAZING with murderous intent.

"POSER?!" the Master of Fists hissed, his fur sticking up as he glared spitfire down at the cowering pink blob "I am no half-assed Charlatan playing at martial arts! I am GOUKI! Master of Fists! The one true heir of Ansatsuken!"

"Jeez! Alright already!" Dan cowered, covering his head with his paws, tail wrapped around him as he mewled "I get it! sorry!" he sighed as Gouki calmed down…somewhat, for him anyways "Man…and I thought Gouken-sensei was scary."

Abruptly, the pink feline found himself bowled over, a paw to his throat as Gouki stood on his chest, blazing red eye locking onto terrified brown. "WERE did you learn that name?" the demon turned Neko hissed, the kanji for 'ten' glowing on his forehead.

"He…he was the guy that taught me the basics!" Dan stammered, eyes wide, ears drawn back in terror as Gouki's claws dug into his fur "I tracked him down be cause he was supposed to be pretty strong...but he threw me out when he caught me reading his scrolls!"

"Scrolls?" Gouki repeated, intrigue entering his tone as he lifted his paw slightly, enough to let the buffoon breath a little easier, though not enoguh to let him forget the extended claws "WHAT scrolls?"

"The secret scrolls!" Dan insisted, looking at the murderous feline incredulously from beneath "Y'know, the secret techniques that masters seal up 'cause they're stingy old farts? Gouken had a whole pile of 'em in the back of his temple, under the big Buddha statue!"

"Did he now…" Gouki muttered, holding a paw to his chin in thought, allowing Dan to scurry away and catch his breath. So his older brother had kept the scrolls he'd taken from Goutetsu, apparently unable to completely distance himself from the basis of Ansatsuken. Or maybe he'd kept them so as to prepare his students against those that might stumble upon the Satsui no Hadou by chance…God only knew Ryu had walked that hazardous line a few times over the years. Either way it was food for thought.

"I don't get why it concerns you any…" Dan muttered, rubbing his throat with a paw as he caught his breath, wincing at the sting-marks Gouki's claws had left "Damn things never work right whenever I tried 'em out."

"That's because you're a buffoon with next to no training." Gouki shot back, glaring at the insolent pup…or was kit more fitting now, with disdain "Not only do you lack the necessary killing intent to pull of the secrets of Ansatsuken, you lack the ability to pull off even a Hadouken."

"HEY! My Gadouken ain't nothing to scoff at!" Dan snapped, actually looking a little incensed at being compared, once again to Ryu and Ken's skills "Sure it doesn't pack as much wallop as a Hadouken…and can't travel as far…or last as long…"

"It's PATHETIC." Gouki snarled, causing the pink feline to quiver back under the force of his glare alone "How Gouken ever to consent to teach someone as inept as you I'll never know!"

"Hey! I'll have you know the only reason he didn't train me was because he caught me looking at those damn scrolls of his!" Dan snapped back "Well…that and my desire to kill Sagat for killing my Oyaji…"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gouki paused at that, looking the feline over with an evaluative expression in his eyes. So one of Gouken's cubs had harbored killing intent at one point? And his pacifist brother had picked up on it and cast him out before he grew too dangerous, but not before he'd gotten a glimpse of the basics, not to mention a taste of the forbidden secrets.

It certainly fit with what he remembered of his older brother. Gouken had abhorred the fact that Ansatsuken was a killing martial art, and had struck out on his own after defeating Gouki for the title of master, taking the scrolls pertaining to the secrets of the style with him, but not before Gouki had gotten a good look at them first.

It also explained the lack of natural ki, or chi, in the buffoon's moves, Ansatsuken focused heavily on the body during the early years of training, and only moved onto the spiritual, the use of ki to enhance the body and Chi to empower the Hadouken, after students had developed their physical aspects as far as they could go.

It stood to reason that Gouken, upon learning that he had someone with less than pure motives for learning his art, would evict said person from his tutorage, most likely by force.

'That explains why he appears to know the basis of the physical.' Gouki muttered, recalling that while the blows had been lacking in ki, Dan was at least in good shape for a fighter, but something still bothered him. "Tell me…" he muttered, looking over the recovering pink feline with relatively calmer eyes "That slip of a girl that fought under your banner…your disciple?"

"Sakura?" Dan repeated blinking at the mention of the girl, before pumping out his chest with pride "Yeah she's something else, picked up on all of my moves quick as anything…'cept the Otoko Michi of course." He flinched at Gouki's growl, clearly his best technique still rubbed the red-haired tom the wrong way.

"A prodigy…" Gouki muttered, looking aside for a moment, deep in thought "But even so, to gain such skills would require detailed instruction…even Gouken took a week to master the basics of the Shoryuken."

"Yeah, Sakura still has a problem with timing." Dan admitted, recalling the girl's habit of taking a step whenever she launched her uppercut with a wince. The girl had the strength of a gorilla, he'd swear by anyone "Then Ryu decided to teach her a thing or two about 'refining' her 'Hadouken'" he sniffed, looking insulted "even though she learned my Gadouken first, won her first street fight using it too!"

"Your 'Gadouken' as you call it, it merely a Hadouken empowered solely by your own Ki." Gouki pointed out, a little surprised at himself for being so forthcoming supposed the buffoon had provided several interesting things to consider "The fact you could generate anything at all with such a pitiable amount without drawing on the Chi around you is staggering in it's ineptitude."

"Chi?" Dan repeated, looking at the red-maned feline in confusion, his brow furrowed in as he tilted his head "What the hell's Chi?"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Across the globe, several prominent martial artists of various sects and styles shivered uncontrollably, a feeling of…wonderment settling over them, as they wondered just what on earth could have felt so…stupid.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Had Gouki's face been his own, and not that of an, admittedly fearsome looking, tomcat, then the expression he wore right now would have most certainly caused anyone that witnessed it to die laughing in a puddle of their own waste. As it were, had anyone, most particularly women, seen his expression would have let out squeals at how adorable he looked.

The transformed Master of Fists STARED at the suddenly decidedly nervous feline that had once been Dan Hibiki, his eyes wide and his mouth gaping open, struck dumb and incapable of coherent thought by the sheer…OUTRAGEOUSNESS, of the pink feline's last statement.

"Uh…you okay there man?" Dan asked, looking over the silent tom with a little concern in his eyes. It would majorly suck if he was left on his own like this, at least with Gouki around he had someone to talk to…sort of.

Gouki blinked once, twice, three times a lady, and then shook himself out of his daze, shutting his mouth with an audible crack and placing a paw to his aching head. "Sweet mother of Kami-sama on a bike…" he muttered, wishing he had a bottle of sake to take the edge off of his growing migraine "When Gouken decides to do something he doesn't do it by halves…"

Dan blinked, wondering what this had to do with the old man, and just what was the relation between him and the murderous nut job that was currently bashing his feline head against the wall before him.

"We'll discuss this later…" Gouki growled, stepping away from the wall, having successfully punched a small crater into it with his head banging "Right now we need to find out where the hell we-what's that noise?"

Dan blinked, only to feel the hairs on his back stand up as a low, hungry growl reached his ears, turning his head in alarm at the sight of a pack of street dogs as they stepped into the alley, drool dripping from their fangs and madness in their eyes. Gouki, a heavy scowl on his face, glared at the canines and released a growl from the back of his throat, a deep, throaty tumble like a dozen thunderclouds, Dan hissing at them, his tail straight out behind him as he made himself look bigger.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pedestrians walking along the street were startled out of their thoughts as a series of savage yelps and barks and miniature explosions sounded from inside an alley, followed by two Dobermans flying out of said alley courtesy of what looked like a ki blast, landing in a tangled heap of limbs against the guardrail, a third dashing out at top speed, trailing blood from a slashed face, looking over its shoulder at it's assailants as they exited the alley mouth, hissing and spitting at the mutts until they took off, yelping in terror from the sight of two very angry felines.

Needless to say, the pedestrians didn't stick around to see what happened next. This was Juuban district after all, anything out of the ordinary here usually meant Youma were involved in some shape or form.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"YOSHA!" Dan crowed, standing on two legs as he pumped his arms, or tried to anyways, as he watched the canines head for the hills "That'll teach you sons of bitches to mess with the great Dan-The-Man!"

"You're neither Great…" Gouki Growled, spitting out a piece of ear he'd chewed off one of the Dobermans in the midst of the fight, a reflex he attributed to his new form "Nor are you a man…anymore."

"You know…you're really a downer." Dan muttered, sinking to all fours and shooting the larger tom a wounded look "You sure you ain't related to ol' thunder thighs? Chinese chick? Likes to kick people for talking about her crush on Ryu?"

Gouki cocked an eyebrow at that…or as well as he could, considering he technically didn't have eyebrows as a cat. So the cub had picked up an admirer had he? And master Gen's disciple at that. This could be used to his advantage…if he ever figured out how to get back to normal. Shaking his maned head, he looked round spotting a nearby telephone pole and leaping up it, startling the crap out of Hibiki. Glaring at the surrounding district, the Master of Fists let out a growl of frustration. At the very least, he presumed they were still in Japan…there was no mistaking the combination of Natural chi and the feeling of dead technology that his homeland gave off, but it still didn't tell them EXACTLY where in the island nation they were.

"See anything?" Dan asked as Gouki leapt back down, landing gracefully on all fours despite the drop, something even a real cat wouldn't be able to pull off, not without breaking every damn bone in their body.

"Nothing that tells me where we are." Gouki admitted, his voice a growl, for he did NOT accept failure, especially in himself, for failure was a sign of weakness "But at the very least, we're still in Japan."

"Well that's a big help…" Dan muttered sarcastically, missing the larger cat's heated glare as he started scratching his ear with his hind leg, only to pause as he noticed the look Gouki was giving him as he did so "What?"

"Orokana…" Gouki growled, turning around in disgust and padding down the street with his tail flicking behind him. Dan, after a moment's confusion, yelled at him to hold up, the pink feline catching up after a short dash.

"Mataku…" Dan muttered, falling into step alongside the larger cat "If only I wasn't so damn hungry…" he paused, sniffing the air suddenly, his eyes shutting "Hey…something smells pretty good!"

Gouki glared at the idiot, only to trail off as the scent reached his own nose, his eyes shutting instinctively as he titled his head from side to side, trying to track it down. "Hey! I know this smell!" Dan exclaimed, his eyes widening in delight as he raced down the sidewalk "That's the Okonomiyaki stand next to the arcade in Juuban!"

Gouki stared after the idiot, unable to believe that the man's sense of smell, or rather his hunger, had found out where they were. Then the rumbling of his stomach demanded his attention, and he made his way, grudgingly, after the pink menace.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ukyo sighed as she waved off another laughing couple, wishing she could do the same with her own 'other' back in Nerima. She'd come out to Juuban to refine her skills as both a chef and martial artist, hoping to take advantage of not only the rumours of a girl with an appetite to rival a Saotome coming off a fast, but the frequent reports of monster attacks to polish her skills to the next level.

That…and the fact she, like all girls at some stage, had once harbored a dream to fight as a magical girl, and was secretly hoping to nail a couple of autographs from the Sailor Senshi if she saw them.

'Who knows…maybe I can get them to represent me.' She chuckled, knowing it was simply fantasy, only to look down as something rubbed against her leg, her eyes widening at the sight of the cutest pink kitty looking up at her "Well hello there!" she greeted, crouching down as scratching under the things chin "Aren't you a cutie?"

The cat purred, clearly liking the treatment, before turning it's eyes to the stove, where the smell of Okonomiyaki originated. "You hungry girl?" Ukyo giggled, smiling down at the cutie as she cut off a slice of the sizzling meal and scraped it onto a plate, setting it down on the floor "Here, dig in!"

The feline fell upon the cluster of meat and vegetables with abandon, Ukyo smiling down at it contentedly, only to blink as a larger, handsome looking cat sauntered up to the plate, looking it over warily before digging in.

'KAWAI!' the chef/cross dressing martial artist squealed, watching the feline rendition of lady and the tramp with little hearts in her eyes. Some of her customers, a little unnerved by the display, looked down to see what the big deal was, attracting quite a crowd, who decided to stick around for a meal, meaning Ukyo was soon too busy to see the two cats saunter off.

All in all, as the chef counted her earnings later that evening, far greater than anything she'd ever hauled in from Nerima, she seriously considered sticking around Juuban for a little longer, Shampoo and Cologne has gone back to China for a month, something about a festival, so Ran-chan would be safe without her for a week or three…right?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At the Nerima hospital ward, one Saotome Ranma lay groaning in his bed, having just been wheeled in from having his stomach pumped to remove the environmental hazard his un-cute tomboy fiancé and their idiot fathers had rammed down his gullet…his sixth time that evening alone.

The one saving grace, other than the fact he'd stuffed a handful down the fathers' throats before he collapsed, was that Ukyo would be back from her training trip soon…or so he hoped.

"Time for your sponge bath Saotome." A familiar voice called out, Ranma turning in horror to espy Tendo Nabiki, Ice Queen and unopposed hustler of Nerima standing there in a, rather revealing, nurses outfit, a pail of spongy water in one hand, and an instant camera in the other "Please…don't get up…I'll help you out."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Oh man…that hit the spot!" Dan sighed, letting out a belch that rattled the windows and set of a few car alarms, picking his teeth with an extended claw "Y'know…I could get used to this whole cat thing."

"Right," Gouki muttered, his tone sarcastic "Rolling around in your own filth, begging for scraps from strangers and dumping your shit in peoples yards…truly a FAR greater vocation than challenging strong opponents and honing your skills in an endless quest for improvement."

"Hey! Don't get me wrong!" Dan exclaimed looking defensive "I wanna get back to normal just as much as you! The future of Saikyo-ryu depends on it!" he scratched his head "Its just…if we can't get back…"

"You so much as begin to finish that sentence and so help me I'll shove a Hadouken so far down your throat you colon will wind up in Okayama!" Gouki growled, his eyes flashing crimson and waves of murderous red ki wafting off him "There has to be a way to change back, and when we find it the first thing I'm going to do is drag you kicking and screaming down to hell, so don't you DARE try to get out of it!"

"Yeah-yeah…" Dan sighed, shaking his head in disbelief, wondering just how in the hell he got into these situations, only to blink, looking up at the sound of a school bell to see they were passing an elementary school, several giggling little kids running out into the waiting arms of parent or onto to school buses.

"Feh…" Gouki snorted, looking at the pristine building in disgust "Such establishments are a waste of time, a true warrior should hone his skills at such an age, but here they fill their minds with useless drivel and facts that have little to do with life."

"Hey c'mon man…" Dan muttered, eyeing the grouch with an exasperated expression "I mean I'm all for passing down the skills to the next generation and all that…" he spread a paw out to the school "But kid's have to be kids…this isn't the feudal era you know."

Gouki snorted, but didn't say anything else, honestly impressed with the buffoon's logic. He himself had squandered his childhood chasing after his older brother's heels, only to surpass him, in his own eyes at least, and have nothing to show for it but the fact he had attained what Gouken feared to. In retrospect, it wasn't much of a childhood, but then Goutetsu wasn't one for coddling, and Gouki had wanted nothing more to be stronger.

'But what for…?' the Master of Fists wondered, his feline brow furrowing in thought 'It wasn't just to surpass Gouken…that came later.' He scowled 'Why did I take up the art back then…why did I desire strength?'

He trailed off as Dan stiffened, turning to see the pink furred Neko starting intently across the street, turning his crimson gaze just in time to see a frail looking girl, little more than ten years of age, stagger into the street, her breath ragged, clutching at her heart with one hand and her throat with the other. All around her, people were going about the business as if they couldn't see her, talking, walking and laughing, the sounds oddly muted and hollow as the cats watched on.

But someone else had seen the girl, namely the drive of the taxi that was barreling towards her, horn blaring and brakes screeching as the driver tried desperately to stop his vehicle, only for the girl to fall to her knees in the middle of the street.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tomoe Hotaru gasped as she slipped into one of her usual attacks, her throat working like mad as she clutched at her heart, which was beating a mile a minute. The sickly child could hear the oncoming taxi, but there was little she could do about the matter, as she literally could not move from that spot, couldn't even roll out of the way.

'Mama…' she whispered, her eyes shutting as she braced for the inevitable impact, the onlookers only now realizing the danger she was in 'I'm coming mama…'

"TENMA KUJIN KYAKU! / DANKUU KYAKU!"

She flinched, the sound of crashing metal and screeching tires mingling with the screams of the crowd as SOMETHING crashed into the oncoming taxi, causing it to collide into a streetlight and come to a halt, the Driver knocked senseless by the collision, but otherwise unhurt. Everyone gazed in shock at the taxi, several people rushing round to see what had crashed into it, only to gape at what looked like two massive dents in the passenger side doors.

Hotaru opened her eyes, honestly surprised to still be among the living as she felt herself over, the crowd still focused on the taxi for the moment. "Woo…THAT was a close one!" a voice noted, causing her to blink, looking around for the source in confusion "Hell of a kick you got there buddy!"

"Yours was…adequate as well." A darker voice allotted, Hotaru looking around in confusion, only to spy two cats hiding near a car not three feet away from her. The smaller, a cute, pink one with a patch of black fur in it's chest and brown fur behind it's ears, grinned and struck a pose

"AW yeah! Praise from the Master of Fists!" it yelled, the voice, despite its coloring, distinctly male as it continued to pull off strongman poses, despite lacking any considerable muscle mass under the oddly coloured fur "I rock!"

"Orokana…" the larger cat, a handsome black beast with a blazing red mane that somehow reminded the girl of a lotus bud, growled, shaking it's head in disgust, only to notice her looking at them and falling silent.

"What?" the pink one asked, turning to follow it's fellow's gaze, only to pause as they all looked at one another "Uh…Hi?"

Hotaru waved, a little too stunned to speak, before passing out in the middle of the street due to the shock. Be it from the near accident or sight of two talking cats was anyone's guess.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yes, I know Hotaru no longer had the attacks after being reborn, but I needed to think of SOME reason for her to nearly get run over by a taxi.

Neko-Dan: Not cool man.

Neko-Gouki:...*glower*...

Kyugan: That said, the stage has now been set for the crossover to well and truly begin!

Neko-Dan: Aw man...What're you going to do to us next?

Hotaru: *smiles and cuddles the pink one*

POOF

Dan: What the hell?! *Blinks* Hey, is there a draft in here?

Neko-Gouki: 0_o?!?!

Hotaru: *hanging of Dan's neck* o_o...You're bigger than papa...

Spoilers no!

R&R for more!

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

Ah, gotta love that inpiration.

For those that ask, no, this isn't set during the Pharaoh 90 arc, it's set after, which I think was the Galaxia arc...I'm not a longtime fan of Sailor moon so I wouldn't know off the top of my head. The reason Hotaru had an attack was simply a fluke, a bit of Deus Ex the universe threw in to ensure that she met our two Street Fighters turned Neko.

And yes, as you might have guessed, Dan and Gouki retain most of their strength in Neko form, but because of the unusal bodies, they're most lilkely at less than 1/4 strength. But even at that much it's not that hard for Gouki, or even Dan, to smash the bejeebus out of a car.

And yes, that was a tribute to the 'pummel the car' mini-game...god I loved that game.

Halibel: Vagrant.

Kyugan: Hey, it was cathartic!

* * *

Round 4.

Meiou Setsuna sighed in relief as she left the Tomoe home behind, the revived, invalid Dr. Tomoe having released all rights to his daughter to her care, thanks to some subtle manipulation and a little hypnotic suggestion. Most people, upon learning of this, would raise a stink and condemn her without thought, but Setsuna, or Sailor Pluto as she was known, had been doing this for quite some time and knew how to avoid paper trails.

Oh it hadn't always been like this, in the Silver millennium she'd been as straight as an arrow and, truth be told, a little bit of a wallflower, in that she preferred the company of the time gates to her fellow senshi, though they were all as close as could be without sharing blood. Then Mettalia and Beryl had swooped in and blown everything to pieces. The moon palace was sacked, the other royal planets had their biosphere's removed, leaving all but earth for dead.

Hell, there'd been ELEVEN planets in the solar system before then, Juno and Nemesis, but the battle with Mettalia's forces had reduced the former to little more than a scattering of meteors between Mars and Jupiter, and the latter had been knocked so far out of orbit it had only been discovered in the future, thanks in part to her attempts to hush things up, when the Dark Moon Clan came back for revenge.

As the sole survivor of the Silver Millennium, having been sealed in with the time gates when the invasion began, Pluto had been left virtually alone throughout countless millennia, watching as the utopian society they'd lived in degraded to cosmic dust, waiting for her fellow senshi and princess to be reborn so that they might rebuild. Imagine her horror, watching for them in the time gates, too desperate after being alone for so long to fear the consequences, at finding the senshi had been reduced in reincarnation from highly trained warriors to giggling schoolgirls.

Oh they retained traits of their former selves; Mercury still had her ingenious mind, Mars was as hot-tempered as ever, Jupiter still possessed an interest in martial arts and Venus was still a shameless flirt…but they were shades of their former selves, tempered by the times they lived in and their occupations. She didn't even want to THINK about what had become of the regal, composed, genteel princess Serenity, one of the few people that had been able to convince her to leave the Time Gates with but a smile and kind words. The Senshi had loved her dearly, as their mothers had hers, and would have willingly given their lives to protect her.

There was literally NOTHING of her memory in her current incarnation: a bumbling, scatterbrained ditz that was more interested in stuffing her face and fantasizing about boys when she wasn't sleeping through class, the archetypal, though Setsuna wasn't one to resort to stereotypes, dumb blonde. Oh she could be sweet and considerate, when she wasn't stuffing her face or gushing over some boy, but it was, again, shades beneath what the princess had been capable of.

Princess Serenity had once calmed a rearing stallion by smiling at it, Setsuna would bet any money that Usagi, if faced by a similar situation, would run screaming in the opposite direction, probably getting lost on the way. That or eat the blasted thing.

But none of that mattered to one with the patience, time, and the means to ensure things were set right. So while she was still entrapped in the gates, Pluto used them restlessly to determine a course of events that would bring back everything she, THEY had lost; A new Silver Millennium: Crystal Tokyo.

Of course this meant wiping the minds of Luna and Artemis, the only two Maou that had survived the great fall. Not that she erased EVERYTHING mind you, they were no good to her as brainless beasts, and she wasn't so far gone as to do such a thing to old friends, but enough to ensure they didn't give out any undue information to their charges, like the fact there was a fully trained, virtually immortal Senshi with a veritable 'Time Machine' watching over them.

Artemis was sent to Europe to watch over Aino Minako, or Sailor Venus, frankly because Setsuna doubted his ability to divide his attention between more than one charge at a time. Luna was sent to Earth several months later, a little careful manipulation ensuring that the former royal advisor didn't realize Usagi was the reincarnated Princess, instead conscripting her to become the first ever Sailor Moon.

After that it was a simple matter of ensuring that things progressed according to HER script. This meant wiping out any threats to the senshi before they occurred, such as the near rape of Mizuno Ami, Mercury, and inspiring Kino Makoto, Jupiter, to take up martial arts when her parents died. Hino Rei's position as priestess was actually a blessing, as the firetrap had developed abilities even OUTSIDE her senshi form, though she'd yet to actually conjure flame.

And as for Venus…well, multi-tasking might not have been his strength, but Setsuna had to admit Artemis had done a bang-up job in motivating the girl. She'd even allowed him to retain his memory of the princess, to an extent, at least enough to instill the importance of finding and protecting her in his charge.

All that left was for Setsuna to seek out Uranus and Neptune and…convince them to her way of thinking. Now if only she could stop Haruka's incessant attempts to convince her into a three-way, she wasn't THAT desperate after all.

In any case, with the threat of Pharoh-90 out of the way, things were, in her opinion, looking up for Crystal Tokyo. All she had to do was sit back, occasionally launching a Dead Scream to wipe out immediate threats to the senshi, and wait for the ice-age to hit. That is, after she dropped Hotaru, or rather Sailor Saturn, off at Haruka and Michiru's place. Those two would be more than happy to watch after the girl, and would probably be able to look her in the eye without recalling how, at one point, they'd been trying to kill her.

'Stop that.' She ordered, a frown marring her features as she reigned in her emotions with the experience of ages 'You can't lose control now, not with everything falling into place at last.' Taking a breath to steady herself, the oldest living Senshi in the solar system set off towards Hotaru's school, ready to take the girl off to her new home.

The fact the girl was in HOSPITAL threw her for a loop however.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well you're perfectly fine Hotaru-chan!" Doctor Mizuno assured the girl sitting before her "I'm guessing it was simply a little exhaustion that brought the spell on, get some rest and you'll be right as rain."

Hotaru smiled at the blue haired woman, for some reason she felt like she'd met her, or someone like her, some time ago, but the image swam away before she could put a name or date to it. "I'll just let your father know where you are shall I?" doctor Mizuno assured her genially, patting her on the head "He'll be round to pick you up soon."

"That will not be necessary, Doctor Mizuno." A voice called out, the blue haired woman turning to blink at a tall, regal looking woman in a well-cut business suit. Her long green hair aside, she looked like a professional lawyer. "I'm with child services, I'm afraid that Doctor Tomoe's condition has made it hard for him to provide adequate parenting time, so he has arranged for Hotaru to stay with some friends."

"Condition?" Ami's mother repeated, blinking as a medical file, an original, as there honestly no need for a forgery, was placed in her hand, eyes widening as she flipped through it "Oh my god…the poor man…"

"Yes," Setsuna agreed, looking over at the confused Hotaru with an impassive stare. Not out of spite, but to prevent her emotions leaking out. She hadn't forgotten the look in the girls eyes as she'd stared down a Dead Scream. Or the face that had looked down at Pluto when she'd 'Died' either.

"Well…the paperwork looks to be in order." Dr. Mizuno admitted, a little uncertainly but she'd recognize the good Doctor's signature anywhere, only to sigh, turning to Hotaru with a apologetic smile "Hotaru-chan, you have to go with this lady…"

"Is papa sick?" Hotaru asked, looking between the strangely familiar woman in the suit and the one with blue hair. For some reason the former gave he as great a feeling of unease as the latter gave of calm.

"I'm afraid so." Dr. Mizuno stated, wincing at having to say it outright "But he'll get better, and then you can go home."

Hotaru regarded the doctor with solemn eyes, her purple gaze unsettling the older woman for some reason, before nodding and hopping to the floor, walking over to the green haired woman and out of the office without a fuss.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Have I told you this is a bad idea?" Gouki muttered, glaring at Dan as the pink feline tried to scramble through a vent into the Hospital, his hind legs kicking hilariously as fought to gain entry into the narrow opening "The brat wasn't hurt, most likely they took her in for fainting."

"But she fainted because of US!" Dan insisted, his voice oddly muffled by the vent, his hind-legs still kicking at the air as he fought to stuff more of himself down the tube "We probably scared the life out of her, talking like that right in front of her!"

"Bah, a little childhood trauma never hurt anyone." Gouki muttered derisively, his tail wrapped around his feet as he looked aside, the tip twitching "Quite the opposite actually, it builds character."

"Maybe for psychopaths like you." Dan muttered, shivering as he felt the other feline's gaze lock onto his rear like a homing beacon "But some kids take shock like that really hard…I gotta make sure she's-!"

Whatever Dan was trying to determine about the girl was cut off as he began to cough and sneeze, his legs kicking wildly, this time in a an attempt to extract himself from the pipe, Gouki watching in dark amusement as the buffoon finally managed to do so, popping out of the pipe with a plume of smoke, before crashing to the ground, half choked and covered with soot.

"Yo…yoyusuuuuu…" the swirly eyed neko stammered, coughing up soot as he lay there, looking dazed and. Gouki wasn't too concerned about him though, he'd landed on his head after all, so there was little chance of anything being damaged.

The dark furred neko froze as he sensed…something, coming from the front of the hospital, his hackles rising and his tail sticking up straight as he turned crimson eyes towards the doors, narrowing the sight of the girl from before and a woman with green hair as the latter waved down a taxi. There was something about the woman that the Master of Fists couldn't place. She didn't look particularly strong, but then looks could be deceiving, especially in strong fighters. Instead, it was like something about her was…off, she felt older than a woman in her later twenties should…and it was setting off warning bells to his highly trained fighter's instincts.

She didn't smell natural either he noted, whiskers twitching as he noted his sense of smell, as a cat, was almost as sharp as his ability to sense ki.

"What's up?" Dan asked, staggering out from around the corner, still coughing up soot clods, half his body scuffed with soot and dirt "You see some-hey there she is!" he blinked "Hey…who's that with her?"

"Why don't you go ask?" Gouki shot back coldly, irritated at the interruption, as it had caused him to lose the scent, and the wind had changed "There," he muttered, nodding as the brat climbed into the taxi "she's fine, we can go-!"

The feline master of Ansatsuken trailed off as, after seeing the child off in the taxi, the green haired woman pulled, of all things, some sort of garnet rod out of thin air and TELEPORTED away, leaving the street deserted.

"Did…did you see that too?" Dan asked, blinking his eyes and shaking his head in confusion "Or did I inhale to much smoke back there?"

Gouki said nothing; he merely padded over to the spot the woman had, until recently, occupied, before turning his gaze down the street after the departing taxi.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Haruka…" Kaioh Michiru whispered, leaning over and shaking her lover's arm gently to rouse the blonde from slumber, her own aquamarine hair tousled from their...playtime, the night before "Come on…time to get up."

"Mrrgh…ten more minutes …" Tenoh Haruka muttered, the short-haired blonde burying her head under the pillows stubbornly as her lover caressed her cheek. The professional racer had come in late last night, having just put some would be street racers in their place, followed by outgunning the Juuban police to avoid getting her license pulled.

"But Setsuna-san said that Hotaru-chan would be here before noon." Michiru pointed out, leaning in to speak in the stubborn blonde's ear, despite her groans of protest "And it's already eleven."

"Alright...fine!" Haruka groaned, pulling her tousled head from beneath the covers, scowling tom-boyishly at her smiling lover, looking absolutely adorable to the other senshi "How'd we get conned into taking her in anyways?"

"You're the one who agreed to it dear," Michiru pointed out, a hint of disapproval at just how easy her lover could be manipulated by Pluto. Not that she didn't find Setsuna attractive herself, but Haruka's libido and wandering eyes had always been a sore point in their relationship. The woman had even suggested including Usagi and her friends in their little 'get togethers', until Michiru put her foot down.

"I did…?" Haruka muttered, her eyes half shut with sleep, only to groan and nod "Oh yeah…Plu's plan…"

Michiru sighed and got off the bed, dressing in a nightgown as she made her way to the kitchen, knowing Haruka's brain would need a dose of caffeine to give it a kick start. As she watched the kettle boil, she let her mind wander back to the little girl she and her fellow outers were taking in, the same girl they had, not too long ago, fought desperately to kill.

'It's not like it was her fault Mistress 9 was lurking inside her.' The aquamarine haired woman sighed, shaking her head ruefully 'But still…Setsuna-san seemed so…determined to see things through…'

Brushing such thoughts aside, the Senshi of Neptune prepared herself to welcome in their new family member, making sure to leave Haruka's coffee where the blonde would find it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"S-slow down would ya?!" Dan yelped, panting for breath as he fought to match Gouki's pace. The fiery maned tomcat had suddenly taken off in the direction of the taxi they'd seen the kid disappear into, actually managing to keep up with it despite it going close to 30 miles an hour.

Gouki didn't respond to the buffoon's pleas, he merely kept his eyes locked on the taxi ahead, his mind racing with the possibilities. Clearly there was something unusual about the woman that had escorted the sickly looking girl out of the hospital, there weren't many people that could teleport at will after all. His Ashura Senkuu was a prime example of a warping technique, utilizing Ki and high speed movement to either cross great distances, or disorient a worthy opponent as he took the rear.

The woman had used neither Ki nor Chi, of that Gouki would stake his reputation, which meant that she was one of the few practitioners of magic left in this world.

Now while many people would scoff at the mere mention of magic, the word being synonymous with children's fairytales and people that said 'Abracadabra' while wearing silk hats and capes, Gouki had faced off against a fair few opponents that used it to some extent. A good example had been a cocky redhead he'd bumped into in Whales a few years ago, at one of the entrances to the so-called 'Magical world'. The smart-mouthed brat had kept trying to read a cheat-sheet in the middle of the fight, until Gouki had rammed the little book so far down the fool's throat he'd nearly choked to death before his friends came to the rescue.

'What was his name again…' the master of fists muttered, scowling in thought, he didn't tend to remember the names of fools after all, foreigners especially 'Spring-something or other…'

Shaking his head to clear it, he noticed the cab had pulled up at a red light, the engine running idly as the driver waited for it to change. Taking a running leap, the red-maned feline latched onto the bumper of the car, claws digging into the hardened plastic as he clambered up to the boot.

"Wait for me!" Dan yelped, leaping up off the curb himself, only to fall just short of the bumber as the lights chose that moment to change, the taxi taking off, causing the pink neko to latch onto the edge of the bumper for dear life "YAAAAAH!!!!"

"Orokana…" Gouki muttered, sweatdropping as the pink feline dangled there like a puppet, terrified tears streaming down his face as he screamed for his father to save him. Knowing he would likely regret it, and not wanting to let the buffoon out of his sight, he leaned out, his claws securing him to the bumper, and grabbed the scruff of the wailing feline's neck between his teeth, dragging him onto the bumper with some difficulty, before depositing him next to him.

"Th-thanks…" Dan gasped, panting like mad as he got over his scare, his heart beating a mile a minute "Thought I was street pizza there."

Gouki said nothing, looking up as the Taxi pulled to a halt outside a rather nice looking house, leaping off the bumper, dragging Dan with him, his tail wrapped around the idiot's neck, as the driver's door opened. The two felines watched from under the cab as the driver helped the girl out of the vehicle, carrying her bags up the steps, where he was greeted by what appeared to be a blonde man in a casual suit and a woman with aquamarine hair.

"Wow…" Dan whistled, looking up at the place from the curb, his eyes running over the decent sized garden and elaborate western décor "Some spread huh?" he waggled his eyebrows, so much as a cat could, at Gouki "And dig that guy's wife! Lucky stiff!"

"That's a woman." Gouki grunted, nodding towards the blonde for emphasis at Dan's confused stare "She pulls it off well, but there's no Adam's apple," he nodded towards the blonde's pants "Also, the hips, the way she moves her legs…"

"No package huh?" Dan reasoned, earning a look from the red-eyed feline that caused him to flinch "What?!"

Gouki shook his head and slinked out from under the car, Dan following after him as they slipped past the conversing humans and into the garden.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hotaru sat on her bed, having convinced Michiru-mama, the woman seemed to like being called that, that she could put her own things away. The former vessel for Mistress-9, looked around her room, her eyes seeing far but not focusing on anything, before leaning back until her head rested on the pillows.

She didn't know why, but for some reason the two women seemed a little uneasy around her, they had greeted her warmly enough, and Haruka-papa, despite frowning a bit at the moniker, had ruffled her hair and offered to teach her to drive when she grew up. But through it all there seemed to be a haunted look in their eyes, as if they were seeing someone else whenever she caught them looking at her when they thought she wasn't looking, looks of sadness and…regret, that confused her all the more.

'Perhaps they were friends of mama?' she reasoned, having never met any of her mother's friends, or her father's for that matter. Professor Tomoe had been a private sort even before he'd married, and after his wife's death he'd virtually buried himself in looking after his sickly daughter and his work.

A tap at the window caused her to sit up, eyes blinking in confusion as she looked at the glass, the last rays of the setting sun casting shadows in the garden below. Again the tapping came, and this time she saw the cause, a little pebble that bounced off the glass from the garden below. Getting off the bed, her curiosity piqued, the ten year old made her way over to the window, undoing the latch and opening it to a gentle evening breeze.

"Pssst!" a voice whispered, causing her to look down, hand flying to her mouth at the sight of a familiar pink shape waving down at her from the garden, "Mind if we come up?"

Hotaru blinked at the cat's words, looking around in confusion, finally spotting the other cat, hidden in the shadow of a tree next to the pink one, his red eyes and mane the only reason she spotted him at all. Looking back to ensure the door to her room was closed, she nodded at the duo, before stepping back into her room to lock the door, just in case her guardians came in. She turned round just as the pink one clambered over the window-sill, panting from his exertion, only to collapse face first into her empty waste-paper bin with a yowl.

"Orokana-me…" the dark one grumbled, clambering over the sill with decidedly more grace than his counterpart, dropping down to the floor with a grace that was almost silk-like in it's smoothness "You give cats a bad name."

"Hey! Not all of us are quick to adapt to the whole four legs thing!" the pink one countered, knocking the bin on it's side and clambering out with a frown and a shudder "And how come YOU'RE so light on your feet?"

"A true warrior should always be capable of adapting to any situation." The dark one intoned, his tone filled with experience and reasoning, earning a grumble from the pink one, who muttered to himself.

"A-ano…" Hotaru stammered, looking between the two felines in confusion, drawing their attention to her again. Unused to such attention, especially the intensity of the larger one's red eyes, she swallowed, before pressing on "A-are you two…real?"

"My BRUISES feel real enough…" the pink one muttered, rubbing his snout tenderly, having stubbed it on the way down "And that climb damn hear killed me, so yeah, I'd say we're real."

Hotaru nodded, sitting down on the bed, her legs weak from shock as she watched the felines in a daze. She'd always liked the stories her father told her about magical animals and the like, but never before had she thought they were real. "Yo, you okay there kid?" the pink one asked, looking up at the girl in concern, snapping her out of her daze "You're not about to pass out are you?"

"We have some questions to ask you." The dark one stated flatly, landing on the bed beside her, cutting her off before she could ask him what he meant "Concerning that woman who was with you at the hospital."

"Oi!" the pink one hissed, clambering his way onto the sheets with his claws, "That ain't how you talk to kids!" he rebuked shooting the grumpy looking tom a glare that was apparently ignored, before beaming at Hotaru "Sorry little missy, he's just a little grouchy."

Hotaru nodded, watching the pink one clamber onto her bed, brushing himself down with a sigh before clearing her throat "Ano…neko-san…"

"Call me Dan." The pink one insisted, smiling up at her, somehow pulling off a thumbs-up as he did so "Hibiki Dan, at your service!" he titled his head towards the larger cat "The ray of sunshine over there is Gouki."

Gouki, as it seemed the larger cat was called, growled deep in his throat and glared at his pink counterpart, Dan shivering and inching away from the larger feline with his ears flattened against his skull. "Erm…Anyway!" the pink neko stammered, pointedly not looking at his fellow Neko, who had turned his gaze towards her again "We were wondering if you could help us out with a little problem…"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And that's as good a place as any to sign off methinks.

Hotaru's memories of Sailor Saturn are buried, just how Pluto hopes they remain. They will, however, be returning a lot sooner thanks to the influence of Dan 'The Man', and The Master of Fists.

Will Hotaru-chan be able to help our heroes regain their true forms? Or are Dan and Gouki going to have to learn how to summon things with a back-flip?

Halibel: Where do they hide those pens?

Kyugan: You don't wanna know...

Neko-Dan: ._0 Buh...pokey things in my butt...Bwee...

Neko-Gouki: {....vengeance!

Read & Review! Omakes welcome!

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

This chapter turned out a little quicker than usual, so Ifigured what the hell.

Dan: VENGEANCE FOR THE BUTT!

Gouki:...grrr...

Kyugan: Oh suck it up...pussies.

Halibel: This won't be pretty (Watches bloodbath kick off) but it is entertaining.

* * *

Round 5.

"So you and Gouki-san used to be human, Hibiki-san?" Hotaru repeated, looking between the two Neko's lying on her bed in awe as she sat on the mattress, her knees pulled up to her chest and eyes wide in amazement.

"Yup!" Dan admitted, scratching the back of his head with a paw as he laughed, while Gouki merely nodded, lying down with his tail curled around him, forepaws crossed. The Master of Fists had remained mostly silent during the telling, only stepping in if Dan started to ramble on, which happened quite a bit.

"And you were both martial arts masters?" Hotaru asked, her eyes wide with amazement as she looked at them in awe. She may have been an invalid for most of her life, though that was clearing up, but even so, she had seen enough manga and television to be in awe of the prospect.

"I was." Gouki muttered before Dan could get a word in edgeways, titling his head towards the pink Neko with a derisive scoff "The…BUFFON here, merely called himself such because he tried to create his own school without finishing his training."

"HEY! Don't go dissing Saikyo-ryu!" Dan hissed, shaking his paw at the larger neko, his hackles raised in defiance, making him quite the sight to behold, like an angry blob of cotton candy with fangs and claws "It's a well known style with a growing following!"

"Really?" Gouki scoffed, a smug look that suited his new form a little too perfectly forming on his face "I didn't know the circus was hiring…"

Dan hissed at the larger tomcat, looking quite the sight with his pink fur standing on edge, to which Gouki gave the feline equivalent of a cocked eyebrow, his very posture screaming 'Bitch, please…' to anything that walked on four legs.

Hotaru looked between the two in awe, and a little apprehension, not wanting her feline friends to get into a fight on her new bed. So, clearing her throat daintily, she drew their attention back to her "So…what do you want from me?" she asked.

"Our business is not with you child." Gouki muttered, though it was in a noticeably more civil tone than the one he first addressed her with, not wanting to have to endure another 'lecture' from Dan about manners "But with the woman who was with you at the hospital."

"Setsuna-san?" Hotaru asked, looking confused at what a bunch of martial artists turned cats could want with the reserved, green haired woman. That, and somewhere deep inside, something was stirring, something that made her question her willingness to follow the woman here.

"Tall chick? Green hair?" Dan asked, to which the confused, purple-eyed girl nodded uncertainly "Yeah that's her, we think," he shrugged, nodding towards the larger Neko "that is, Gouki thinks, she can help us get back to the way we were before."

"We saw her use magic to teleport after she'd seen you off in the taxi." Gouki elaborated, causing the girl's eyes to widen in shock "And since magic is usually to blame for such…incidents, we figure speaking to one who uses magic would be the first step towards a cure."

It was all rather much for Hotaru to take in, she was talking to two cats, that had saved her earlier by kicking an oncoming taxi out of the way no less, who claimed to have once been human, and were seeking Setsuna-san's help to change them back. Stuff like this, in the girl's opinion, only happened in shoujo-manga, and part of her was wondering if she was having a VERY strange dream, only for a knock on the door to snap her back to reality. "Hotaru-chan?" Michiru's voice called out, rattling the handle of the door slightly "Are you alright?"

"H-hai, Michiru-mama." The purple-eyed girl assured her guardian, holding a finger to her mouth to silence the felines on her bed, before turning back to face the door "I'm just…getting changed!"

"Well alright…" Michiru relented uncertainly, sounding a little unconvinced from the other side of the door "Dinner's almost ready, you like soba right?"

Hotaru smiled a little at that, as soba was one of her favorite dishes, and assured the older woman that she'd be right down after she changed, turning to look at her feline guests meaningfully "Ano…"

"Gotcha kiddo!" Dan acknowledged with a salute, diving under the bed and covering his eyes, Gouki rolling his own and following, allowing Hotaru to change her clothes in privacy.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

During the course of the dinner, Hotaru kept shooting covert looks at her new caretakers when they were talking or tucking into their meal of fried soba and fish cake. Ever since the conversation with Hibiki-san and Gouki-san, and the revelation that Setsuna-san seemed to know magic, the uneasy feelings she got from the older women had grown all the more insistent. Once, when Haruka had stood up to get some water, there was an instant where she saw her wearing what looked like a white leotard and mini-skirt, and a chill had settled over her, but the moment passed and Haruka was asking her if she wanted milk.

"Good for your bones milk," the blonde had insisted jovially, a smirk on her face "Drink enough of it and you'll grow as tall as me someday."

Hotaru had refused, politely, as milk was one thing she couldn't bring herself to drink, even if Michiru looked a little concerned about it. But neither pressed the issue and when the time came to clean up, Hotaru snuck some Fish cake into a napkin and made her way up there stairs, closing the door behind her and locking it after a moment's hesitation. 'I want to trust them…' she thought, leaning against the door with an exhausted sigh 'But those visions…the looks they give each other…' she shivered 'I can't help feeling like I've met them before...'

Shaking her head, the girl knelt beside the bed, blinking at the sight of Dan curled up into an adorable pink ball and Gouki laying on his stomach, paws crossed and head raised with his eyes shut. They opened as she looked on, glowing red in the shadows of her bed, like some sort of boogeyman, regarding her solemnly as he growled at the pink cat, rousing him with a paw-swipe to the back of the head.

"ITE-!" Dan yelped, holding his skull as his impromptu leap caused him to smack his noggin against the underside of Hotaru's bed "That hurt dammit! What you do that for?!"

Gouki merely growled and nodded towards a giggling Hotaru, who was covering her mouth in an attempt to conceal her humor. Dan blinked, his nose twitching as he caught the scent of fishcake, before beaming at the girl and padding out alongside Gouki "Yo! Hotaru-chan, lunch good?"

"Very." Hotaru admitted, laying the napkin down on the carpet before them with a kind, but nervous smile on her face, hoping they liked the food but not knowing how they'd react "I brought you some Fishcakes..."

"YAHOO!" the pink feline cheered, tears streaming from his eyes as he fell upon the food with reckless abandon, startling Hotaru with his actions and zeal "Uzumaki Naruto! I haven't had these in ages!"

"Orokana-me…" Gouki grumbled, tucking into one of the spiral-marked fishcakes with decidedly more decorum than his counterpart. Though he had to admit, to his new palette, the taste of the fish was quite the experience.

Hotaru beamed at the two, lying on her tummy and watching them munch away, her chin resting on her arms. Tentatively, she reached out a hand to Dan's head, fingers caressing the back of the pink neko's brown ears. Dan paused in his gorging, a purr rising unbidden from his throat as he closed his eyes, letting the highly enjoyable sensation wash over him, lifting his head slightly and finding the feeling only increased.

"What in the name of Buddha's bunghole are you doing?" a deadpan voice demanded, snapping the pink feline out of his trance to blink at Gouki, who was looking at him with a combination of disbelief and disgust. Blinking again, the transformed master of Saikyo-ryu looked up at Hotaru's hand, following the limb back to his master, who was looking at him with guilty innocence.

"G-gomen…" the purple eyed girl offered, wondering if she'd offended the man in some way "It's just…I never had a cat before and…"

"N-no it's no problem-!" Dan assured her, flushing scarlet and scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. 'Chikusho! I gotta get my act together!' he chastised himself, clenching a…paw, in determination 'Saikyo-ryu's destiny is on the line! I can't let myself get used to being a cat!'

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gouki growled under his breath as Dan proceeded to give himself a pep talk, Hotaru watching on in confused interest as the feline somehow managed to pull off squats that shouldn't have been possible with a cat's knees. 'Truly,' the master of fists growled, tearing his eyes from the sight before his brain exploded 'this is karma's attempt to punish me for my past transgressions.'

Leaping to the windowsill, the black furred, red maned Neko shot a confused Hotaru a look, which softened as she started away from his stare "I'm going out on patrol." He muttered, in all honesty wanting nothing more than some night air to help himself think, before nodding towards the still preaching Dan "Keep an eye on the buffoon."

And with that, ignoring Dan's yell at his back, he leapt off the sill, over the wall, landing on all fours on the guardrail on the sidewalk, shooting a startled couple a menacing glare, to which they hurriedly took their leave.

'A few days ago that glare could've made them pass out in a pile of their own waste.' The master of fists muttered angrily, his fir bristling as he eyed his left paw in disgust, 'Hell, a few days ago I'd have never set foot in such a decrepit, confining maze as this.'

It was a little known fact that Gouki, and Ryu to an extent, did not feel at home in the more developed areas of their homeland. While Ryu, however, could manage well enough, though he drew odd looks walking around in a battered karate gi and no footwear, Gouki resolutely refused to spend more than a day in a city, warping in only to challenge a strong foe or mess with Ryu's head, before warping away again, preferably to a higher altitude to get above the smog.

One of Ansatsuken's founding principles was based on the balance between one's internal Ki and the Chi of the earth. Gouken had valued this principle above all others, lacking the stomach to turn his fists into weapons of murder. Gouki too, embraced this fact, but he did so in the same way all masters did, not with a reckless fanaticism, but the simple fact that it was a part of their art and to ignore it was to invite flaw.

But in the large cities, such as Tokyo, where so many humans gathered and towers of steel and glass blotted the sky, the amount of natural chi was almost non-existent. Oh it was THERE, you couldn't completely wipe out nature after all, but Man's desire for expansion had culled it, turning it into a trickle where once had flowed a mighty stream of life. To a master of Ansatsuken, trained to feel the flow of the world, and turn its wrath into weapons of death, it was almost suffocating, like having a plastic bag held over your head.

'Even Gouken preferred the solitude of his temple…' Gouki muttered, recalling the pristine, hallowed feeling of the mountain woods where his older brother had set up his own branch of Ansatsuken 'He couldn't deviate completely from the teachings…even if he despised them.'

A high-pitched yowling filled the air, Gouki turning just in time to see a dark purple cat racing down the street with a horde of flea-bitten alley cat's on it's tail. Turning his head to follow them, the feline Master of Fists scowled, his mind whirring with dark thoughts and suspicions, for while the rest of the pack where nothing more than common strays, his finely tuned Ki senses had detected something…unusual, about the purple one, aside from the colour of it's fur.

That, and unless his ears were playing tricks, which he highly doubted, the desperate feline had been swearing in Japanese at her pursuers.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'Why does this always happen when I step out alone!?' Luna howled to the heavens, running for dear life from her long time nemesis, a pack of alley strays that had hounded her steps ever since she'd set foot in Juuban. The onetime advisor didn't know if it was because they could tell she was different than them, or if they just didn't like intruders in their territory, but she'd learned early on that traversing certain streets of Juuban alone brought the fleabags out in droves.

A vindictive part of her wondered if Artemis went through the same thing she did, if he was forced to run pell-mell down the streets to escape whatever fate their feral earth cousins had planned for them, only to be brushed aside as she refocused on the more important task of running the hell away.

Yes, as a Mau, she could have used some of her innate magical power to hurl the moggies left right and center like a master juggler, but it would have drained her terribly, and with what looked to be a new enemy on the horizon, she needed her mind completely in the game if she wanted to prove useful to her charges.

'That,' she noted with a deadpan expression, as the image of a sniggering white Mau filled her mind 'and if Artemis ever caught wind of my using magic to deal with a few strays I'd NEVER live it down.'

Yelping as another group stepped into view, cutting off her path, the purple Mau pulled a quick 90-degree turn and rounded a corner, only to find the whole area blocked off by a wall that HADN'T been there last week.

'Of all the times for them to renovate!' the advisor swore, clawing desperately at the wall, wondering when on earth the fleabags had learned to strategize, only to freeze at the low growls coming up from behind, pressing her back to the wall as the horde closed in, a scarred, tiger-striped one stepping to the fore, his toothy grin decidedly malicious, in an unintelligent way.

"Uh…can't we talk about this like civilized folk?" Luna asked with a weak laugh, cursing herself instantly as several of the horde growled at her voice. These were strays after all, who saw humans merely as larger intruders in THEIR territory "I mean, we're all cats here, right?" she pressed further back against the wall as they pressed in, looking around desperately for somewhere to climb out to safety "Come now…let's not get hasty…!"

She trailed off eyes gaping in horror at the sight of the look in the leader's eyes, a combination of hunger and primal lust that shook her to her very core. Luna was no stranger to…goings on, hell she'd gotten around back during the Moon Millennium, before sobering up to her position as advisor and future governess to the growing princess. But her suitors had been Mau, whose manner of courtship was not that much different from that of the royals. A romp in the grass with a suave, handsome Mau was light-years apart from whatever was swimming around in the eyes of the tiger-striped tom, not to mention a few other strays that were lining up behind him.

At some unseen signal from their leader, the horde leapt as one, Luna's eyes snapping shut as she waited for the claws, or worse, to fall upon her, hoping at the very least she made it out of the alley alive, when all of a sudden there was an EXPLOSION of energy, several feline screeches filling the air along with the smell of burnt fur and blood.

Cracking an eye open, the advisor to the sailor scouts blinked, eyes widening at the sight of the huge, muscular rather than fat, form of the black furred tomcat crouched before her, a fiery red mane around it's head. 'Oh…oh my…' she stammered, eyes wide and growing wider as they traveled over the lean, tightly coiled muscle and seemingly elegant fur of her rescuer.

He growled, a deep, primal noise that had no business coming from anything smaller than a mountain lion, the remnants of the horde, who were looking at him in a combination of terrified alarm and pitiable defiance, backed slowly away from the two at the sound, though a few of them, possibly females, seemed to grow a little excited. Even Luna felt herself get a little weak at the knees at the sound, a blush forming on her cheeks that was quite noticeable despite her fur.

'Oh my…where's THIS fellow been hiding himself?' the normally reserved advisor stammered, quite breathless at the amount of presence her furred rescuer gave off. It was different from Rhett Butler; she shivered at the memory of the overweight, but sweet, feline crystal carrier, who had merely seemed larger than life because of his bulk. THIS fellow, however, not only gave you the impression he was cock of the walk, so to speak, but that wherever he WENT was the walk.

There was something…feral about him, though notably different from the horde he'd just seen off. It was the type of feral that looked out at you over the television screen, feasting on some poor Zebra, antelope or cameraman they'd brought down.

'_And he has a rear that's to die for.'_ A part of her mind she'd thought long since abolished noted, the advisor promptly shaking her head to remove such…improper thoughts. As a Mau, and a member of the royal court, she could NOT think such things about a common earth cat…even if he WAS the feline equivalent of Adonis reborn.

And there was Artemis and Diana to consider. She'd freely admit there was an attraction to her fellow Mau, after all, they had been together, professionally, since before the Silver Millennium fell, and he WAS the last male of their kind, at least in this solar system. Still, even after their growing closer since the defeat of Pharaoh 90l, Luna just couldn't see herself settling down with her fellow advisor just yet…even if the future proof they had had turned up in her light purple, almost pink really, glory.

Diana was a gem, no doubt about it, and loved her 'Papa & Mama' to no end. Artemis, of course, spoiled the kitten rotten, something Luna disapproved of, being the former royal advisor/governess, but could find nothing to voice that disapproval when looking into her future kitten's eyes.

So, taking one last, longing look at her rescuers cut _'Like Granite!'_ posterior, she cleared her throat and smiled at him, a little unnerved by the intensity of his crimson stare. "Thank you for the assist," she offered, bowing her head slightly, feeling a little sheepish, as he wasn't likely to understand a word she said "I was in a bit of a pinch there, sorry about dragging you into it."

The large tom eyed her, Luna shivering as the blazing red eyes traveled over her in a way that made her feel oddly conspicuous. It was akin to the feeling of being undressed by someone's stare, a feeling that you were, to all appearances, naked to the world.

Which was decidedly awkward, seeing as Luna was a cat, admittedly a highly intelligent, magical one that was older than modern civilization and STILL in the prime of her life, but a cat nonetheless. "Erm…yes…" she stammered, fighting down the flush as the tom padded around her, eyeing her like some sort of oddity, "Well, I really appreciate the hand, but I really must be going…"

"Wait."

Luna froze, her entire body locking in place at the voice, eyes widening as she turned her head to gape at the tom, hardly daring to believe he'd been the one to speak up. "I have some…questions to ask you." The maned feline muttered, his eyes glowing in the dark as Luna noticing the red kanji for 'Ten' on his forehead for the first time.

He padded towards her, Luna backpedaling a little fearfully as he towered over her like some sort of mountain on legs, his eyes glowing an ominous red in the shadows.

"For your sake, I suggest you answer them truthfully."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Gouki-san is late…" Hotaru noted, looking out at her window in concern. The girl had just come out of the bath, dressed in her new purple pajamas with a towel around her neck to keep her hair from ruining them.

"Ah don't worry about that ol' sourpuss," Dan muttered, turning his head from side to side as Hotaru used her hair dryer on his fur. The pink Neko had taken a bath of his own, albeit an unwanted one, when he made the mistake of trying to use the bathroom while Haruka and Michiru were downstairs. Needless to say Hotaru had to assure a distraught Michiru that she'd merely forgotten to check the seat was down, hiding the half-drowned Neko from her foster-mama's sight.

"But…he's all alone out there." Hotaru protested tentatively, though even she doubted the red-eyed neko was in any danger. Call it woman's intuition, but it seemed more likely that Gouki-san was not the type of person that attracted trouble. If anything he WAS trouble, personified and made furry, and was currently out there hunting down potential victims.

She shook herself, wondering where such morbid thoughts had come from, before switching off the hairdryer and giggling as Dan's fur poofed out like a dandelion, the pink Neko swearing to himself as he fought to straighten himself out.

"Dammit! This is worse than that time Sakura's kid brother got gum in my ponytail!" the feline master of Saikyo-ryu groused, patting his fur tenderly but irritably back into place, before smoothing his forelock between his paws, the sprouting piece of brown hair curling slightly as it sparked "Yosha! Back in form!" he grinned at his reflection in Hotaru's hand mirror "And what form too!" he added, doing muscle poses that a cat should not, by rights, be able to pull off.

Giggling at the antics of her new friend, Hotaru was surprised as she let out a yawn, her eyes half shutting as she reached up to cover it with a hand, looking around in minor shock at the time on her alarm clock, which was already past midnight.

"Yowsa, you'd better be hittin' the sack kiddo." Dan muttered, following her gaze to the alarm clock on her night stand, which was going on past 23:01 at night "You got school in the morning and all."

"But…I'm worried about Gouki-san…" Hotaru insisted, only to yawn again, blinking back tears of exhaustion, only to look down as a paw was placed on her knee, eyes widening as she caught the understanding look on the Neko's face.

"Relax," Dan assured her, beaming up at her and somehow managing to give her a thumbs up despite lacking the appendages to do so "I'll keep an eye out for him, you just get into bed. Early to bed, early to rise, that's the Saikyo way!"

Hotaru giggled again, feeling reassured by the neko's words, before reaching down and embracing him in a friendly hug "Arigatou…Hibiki-san-!"

-POOF!-

Hotaru blinked, coughing up a storm as pink smoke inexplicably filled the air, dropping the bundle in her arms with a thud, earning a yelp from Dan, as she tried to waft the smoke out of her face, only to blink at the sight before her.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ow…what the hell?" Dan muttered, shaking his head whilst rubbing his abused posterior, "Where the hell'd all this smoke come…from…?"

He trailed, off, noticing that the room had suddenly gotten a lot smaller, and colder, for some odd reason. Whereas before he could only climb onto the bed through use of his claws and a running start, now the bed seemed to be at chin level. Also, as he rubbed his posterior, he noted a distinct lack of fur, or anything else for that matter, other than a decidedly familiar rump.

Standing up, a little unsteadily after so long on four legs, the master of Saikyo-ryu looked down at his hands, for hands they were again, before letting out a whoop and thrusting his fist in the air. "YOSHA! Look out world, Hibiki Dan's Back!"

"H-Hibiki-san?" a confused voice called out, causing Dan's feeling of elation to plummet south, a deeper chill wafting over him as he realized that there was a reason for the first one. He turned his head, ever so slowly, the rest of his body frozen where it stood, to find a dumbstruck Hotaru gaping at him, her eyes like saucers, her mouth and a little red blush running across her cheeks "What…how did you…?"

Just as Dan was wondering how this situation could possibly get any worse, there came a rattle at the door, followed by Michiru's concerned voice, the duo's eyes widening in horror as they watched the door creak open, realizing with growing horror that Hotaru had forgotten to lock it coming back in from the bath.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And that's as good a place as any to end the chapter.

Dan: (nekkid) WTF?! You can't just leave me hanging like this!

Kyugan: I'm the author, I can do whatever I want!

Halibel: Deviant.

Hotaru: 0;;-;;0 Hibiki-san...you're bigger than papa...

Dan: TToTT Oyajiiiii-!!!!!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OMAKE THEATRE: Pretty Shotokan Soldier Hotaru.

"So that's basically it." Dan offered, looking up expectantly at the girl, having just finished explaining how he and Gouki were currently lying on her bed, members of the furball club. To be fair, he think he covered everything rather well.

"So Setsuna-san is a mage?" Hotaru asked, looking between the two Neko in confusion, her eyes widening as Gouki nodded in confirmation "and Haruka-papa and Michiru-Mama could be mages too?"

"It is a logical conclusion." Gouki admitted, nodding his head as he spoke "Magic users tend to be a suspicious, secretive lot. It stands to reason that if she were to leave you in the care of someone, it'd be other magic users."

"Then that means..." Hotaru reasoned, her eyes widening s she clapped her hands to her lips "I'm a magical girl?"

Dan blinked, looking from the awestruck, star-pupiled eyed girl to the Master of Fists, who returned the look with a 'WTF?!' expression on his face. "Erm...I suppose so?" the pink Neko stammered, only to blink as Hotaru promptly let into the air with an exstatic squeal!

"And you two must be my magical pets!" the girl realised, beaming down at the stunned martial-artists turned nekos "That's how it works in the manga! You show up out of the blue, give me some sort of artifact that grants me powers and we go out to save the world!"

"Er...really?" Dan wondered, not being up to date on his shoujo manga seeing as he was 100% manly man. Well alright, he'd glimpsed some of the stuff Sakura's friend left behind at the dojo a few times...and he'd admit some of those anime on the tube were kinda romantic, but that was it!

"So where is it?" Hotaru asked, her eyes wide and expectant as she looked over her new friends/pets in glee, which was rather unnerving to see up close "When are you going to make me a magical girl?"

"Erm...the thing is..." Dan stammered, looking for Gouki for help, only to find the Master of Fists glaring at him with a 'Oh hell No' expression on his face. The Master of Fists wasn'tgetting involved in this mess any further than he already had "I uh...don't know how? It's my first time and all..."

"Really?" Hotaru wondered, sounding a bit disapointed, only to blink as a sudden brainwave hit her from somewhere "Don't you just pull off a back-flip or something and the item appears?" she asked, not questioning why on earth she'd know such a thing.

"Uh...maybe?" Dan stammered, looking up at her in confusion, turning to Gouki again, only to find the black Neko facing the wall, before sighing in defeat 'Oh man...I hate making kids cry...' he muttered, leaning down and pulling off a perfect reverse somersault. There was a tingling feeling, and an umcomfortable feeling in his lowar lumbar region, followed by a sharp pain as he overshot the bed, crashing headfirst into the floor.

"Orokana-me..." Gouki muttered with a sweatdrop, only to look up at Hotaru's squeal of delight, his eyes bulging out of their sockets as he espied the girl holding up what looked like a bandana with a little planet on the front "...well...shit?"

At the same time, a certain imortal senshi of time suppresed a shudder, feeling a sudden urge to stock up on aspirin and booze. She hadn't had a premonition THIS bad since she'd ensured Saotome Ranma wasn't a threat to Crystal Tokyo. Who knew hitching him off to the youngest daughter would ensure he died before the great freeze?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

R&R for more neko goodness!

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

Well, last time we saw our heroes, Gouki went after some pussy.

Luna: Well I NEVER!

And Dan decided to pull a Sohma in Hotaru's bedroom.

Hotaru: 0;;-;;0

Dan: Where are my clothes?!

Halibel: Tiny.

Kyugan: Not everyone can compare to Ichigo and Zaraki you know.

I own nothing but my twisted...twisted soul.

* * *

Round 6.

"Hotaru-chan?" Michiru called out in concern, knocking on the door of her young charge in concern, an equally worried Haruka at her elbow. The two lovers had been lying on the couch watching an old black and white movie, fully dressed despite Haruka's incessant pouting and wandering hands, when they'd heard a loud gasp and thump from upstairs.

Immediately, Haruka had gone for her Henshin rod, only for Michiru to slap it from her hand, reminding the blonde that they couldn't risk Hotaru's memory of being Sailor Saturn return. The girl had suffered enough already, there was no need to remind her of her death, nor the fact that the Outers had tried so doggedly to kill her. Michiru could still see Saturn's face in her minds eye, the coldness, the lack of expression, she truly was the messiah of death, only it seemed that she had a choice in deciding when it was time to ring the final bell.

But none of that mattered to the senshi of Neptune now, what mattered was that Hotaru could be in trouble on the other side of the door.

"Here let me." Haruka offered, pushing past her lover apologetically and grabbing the handle, turning it and finding it unlocked, "You okay in there kiddo?" she called out, making her voice as calm, but loud as possible.

"H-hai!" Hotaru called out, her voice oddly strained, as if she had just finished an aerobics lesson, or, as the outer senshi suspected to be the case, had just been scared out of her wits by an intruder.

"What was that thump just now Hotaru-chan?" Michiru called out, holding Haruka back slightly before the blonde just barged in, though internally she wanted to do just that herself "are you okay in there?"

"H-hai…" Hotaru assured them, though Haruka noted there was a hint of panic in her tone, like she was trying to hide something, the sound of scrabbling feet didn't alleviate her suspicions either "I just…stubbed my toe and fell!"

"Really?" Haruka muttered suspiciously, earning a concerned look from Michiru as the blonde racer tightened her grip on the door, ready to charge in and flatten whoever was in theere with the girl "Well, lemme take a look alright?"

"Wait!" Hotaru called out, pushing against the door even as Haruka pushed it open forcibly, the blond nearly knocking her charge down as she forced through, despite Michiru's insistant protests.

The room was empty, the curtains blowing slightly in the breeze coming from the open window.

"Y'see Michiru?" Haruka chuckled, though internally she let out a sigh of relief, a human burglar might not be a major threat, but they could slip past the anti-Youma wards Pluto had erected around their home with ease "Nothing for you to worry about."

"Haruka-papa!" Hotaru chided, looking up at the blonde in hurt frustration, a slight blush marking her cheeks as she pouted, her fists clenched at her sides petulantly, making her look all the more adorable "What if I'd been naked?!"

"So? We're all girls here remember?" Haruka teased, ruffling the girl's hair, much to Hotaru's grudging amusement, the purple-eyed girl squirming out from under the contact and sitting down on the bed with a huff.

"Hotaru-chan…" Michiru spoke out, looking or the girl in relief "You said you stubbed your toe?" she smiled and knelt down, "Here, let me take a look." Hotaru did so, looking down nervously as the aquamarine haired senshi held up her feet and rubbed each one tenderly, looking for the injury. "Nothing wrong here." she offered, tickling the girl's sensitive foot for emphasis "All the little piggies are safe at home."

"Michiru-Mama-ha ha-ha!" Hotaru complained, giggling as Michiru continued to assault her defenseless soles "Th-that t-t-tickles!"

Haruka chuckled, leaning against the wall as she watched her beloved torture the kid, the former messiah of silence reduced to a giggling, breathless pre-teen under Michiru's talented fingers. 'Perhaps this won't be so bad.' She reasoned, her doubts about adopting their one-time target fading as Pluto had assured her it would 'Mistress 9's gone for good, and unless something triggers the talismans, Saturn should stay sealed away.'

Shivering slightly, the Senshi of Uranus crossed the room to the open window, snapping it shut, latching it, and drawing the curtains with a satisfied nod. No need for her charge to catch a cold after all, good thing they'd bought double-glazing.

'Funny…' she muttered, as she turned away from the window 'I could of sworn I heard someone swear a second ago…must've left the TV on…'

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dan cursed to himself as he lay on his back, his fingers tucked under his armpits as he rolled around on the grass of the Outer's back yard.

The Saikyo-ryu master, upon realizing he was about to be found naked in an under aged girl's room by her loving parents, had done what any rational adult male would have done and flung himself out the window the second Hotaru had run at the door, buying him a few seconds to make his escape.

He had clung, like a limpet, to the frame of the window, just out of sight from the inside of the room unless you actually stuck your head out the window and looked down. The outers, fortunately, had bought a house that was relatively separate from it's fellows, and it was late enough at night that no-one was there to see his naked ass clinging to the side of the building like Spiderman's exhibitionist cousin.

However, just as he felt certain he wasn't about to be chased through the street by a murderous spell caster, for if Gouki was right then Hotaru-chan's new guardians were most likely connected to the green haired woman from the hospital, the one he'd assumed was a man had closed the windows on the tips of his fingers, causing him to swear, quite vocally, before screaming as he fell the full two stories to the garden below.

'This just ain't my day…' he muttered, shaking himself dazedly as the fire finally died down in his abused digits 'First I nearly die, then I come back as a cat, then I nearly suffocate in an exhaust port and become street pizza…' he ticked off all the weird ass things he'd gone through today on his fingers and sweatdropped 'Damn…just how many lives do cats have again?'

Shaking his head, the Saikyo-ryu master realized, as a breeze washed over him, that he was currently sitting in the middle of a garden with no clothes on. Even though it was nighttime, and no one had apparently heard the ruckus he was making, he couldn't risk the chance of someone spotting him from an upstairs window. It wouldn't do for the Saikyo name to be dragged through the dirt after all.

And so he turned his eyes to the washing line, where the neighbor had just hung out a load of bed sheets to dry and forgotten to take in, his eyes falling on a pink sheet in particular. 'Well…when in Rome…' he muttered, sneaking over to the line, keeping out of sight of the windows as he crouched behind the Outer's fence 'I wonder what ol' sourpuss is up too…' he wondered, tugging the sheets over to his side with a grunt 'Probably having a night on the town I'll bet…'

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I grow impatient with you silence." Gouki growled, glaring down at the stunned female, the voice alone had proved it, though he seemed to have known before hand, his crimson eyes glowing dangerously "What are you? Why do you assume the form of a cat?"

Luna, by contrast, was gaping at her supposed savior in alarm, fear, and hint of hope. Up until now she had assumed him to be like her previous savior, a simple cat that had somehow gotten it into his head to come to her rescue. That assumption had been literally moon-dusted the second he'd started talking to her.

Looking him over she realized that, first off, he certainly didn't carry himself like a cat, form aside she got the impression she was actually looking at a lion, the red mane didn't help either. Secondly, the symbol on his forehead, while not the crescent moon that denoted Artemis and herself as servants of the serenity line, was nonetheless the definitive symbol of a Mau, though why it was written in kanji she couldn't explain.

Mau were, as the name suggested, Magical cats with ties to the reigning sovereign. During the Silver Millennium, they had served as Advisors, Teachers and even lovers, once they reached the age and power requirements to assume their human form, though the latter was rare enough that it was hardly ever mentioned.

Still, most Mau bore the crescent moon of the serenity line, a symbol of their unerring loyalty and devotion to the Silver Millennium, and from it were able to augment their power with that of whatever was bequeathed to them by the reigning monarch. To find one with the Japanese kanji for 'heaven' on his brow, and a decidedly uncivil temperament, in a back alley in Juban kind of threw the royal advisor for a loop.

"You…Are you a Mau?" she asked tentatively, looking the large, strapping fellow over with combined disbelief and wonderment, unwilling to place her hopes on what might be a trap "That is, who are you?"

"I'm asking the questions here." Gouki growled, his eyes flashing crimson in his ire "I can tell from your energy you are no mere cat…talking aside you don't have the normal ki flow of any animal that I've seen." He growled, sniffing her face, causing her to blink in shock at the closeness of their features "That, and you reek of magic…OLD magic, though how old I can't be certain."

"Well excuse me!" the shocked advisor shot back, flushing at the proximity and swatting his face with a paw, the Mau equivalent of a slap, her face a mask of mortification. Sniffing someone's face, in Mau culture, was decidedly rude. "I don't know who you are sir, but I don't care for your lack of social graces!"

It was only as her paw started to sting, 'What's this guy made of!?', and she heard the telltale growl emanating deep in his throat, did Luna recall he'd just scared off a bunch of alley strays with a glare and…who knew what, and she wasn't exactly noted for her fighting ability.

"So…" the crimson eyed feline growled, an aura of anger settling over his frame as he glared at the suddenly nervous advisor "That's how you want to play it…"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dan had just finished fixing the bed sheet to his frame in a passable rendition of a toga when Hotaru stuck her head out the window, gesturing to let him know the coast was clear. Not wanting to risk bringing the vines down with him, the Saikyo-ryu master leapt up and grabbed the edge of the windowsill, startling the girl at his clearing the almost two storey distance with apparent ease. But then to a martial-artist, particularly one that had spent any amount of in china running the hell away from a certain tribe of amazons, roof hopping wasn't that big a deal.

"Haruka-papa and Michiru-Mama have gone downstairs." The purple-eyed girl assured the man as he clambered through the window, sitting down on her chair backwards, "I've locked the door this time…sorry for earlier."

"No prob…" Dan assured her, holding up a hand to waylay any further apologies from the girl "I wasn't expecting this either…" he grinned at her "and it wouldn't have looked good if they'd seen me like this in here."

Hotaru nodded, a little flush adorning her cheeks as she did so. She may not have been a teenager yet, but even so, it was quite hard to miss the muscles on Dan's back, or, a darker part of her noted, his well-sculpted buttocks. Though for the life of her, the preteen couldn't understand where such a thought had come from.

"In any case," Dan muttered, looking over his hands with a frown "I wonder if this is permanent or if I'm gonna switch back any second now?" he flexed his fingers with a frown "Dammit, wish Gouki was here, he's supposed to be the hotshot master of martial arts."

"But why did you change in the first place?" Hotaru wondered, sitting on her bed in confusion as she looked at the pink clad man "Was it something I did?"

Dan was about to refute that assumption, not wanting to worry the girl too much, only to pause. While it WAS a possibility that whatever had turned him into a cat had simply worn off, there was still the fact he'd done so as Hotaru-chan, as he had come to regard the pre-teen, had hugged him. Of course it was a shot in the dark, for all he knew it could've been the hair-dryer poofing out his fur that caused the transformation, but then he wasn't an expert on magic. Kicking ass, taking names and making badass poses yes, but not magic.

"Let's just wait for Gouki to get back." He assured the girl, smiling at her comfortingly as he ruffled her hair, earning a giggle for his trouble "In the meantime…you got any videogames in here?"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luna ducked under a flying trashcan, her eyes wide with terror as she hauled her feline posterior out of the alleyway, sweating bullets from her near escape.

Using her magic against a horde of alley cats would've earned her a right ribbing from Artemis, but it wasn't uncommon for Mau to duel each other with their abilities, it was actually the preferred method than resorting to, pardon the pun, catfights.

So the second the maned fellow's aura had turned violent, she'd used her abilities to hurl him away from her, sending him crashing into a pile of garbage cans. She'd paused for a second, a little woozy from using her magic so quickly, only for the trashcan's to literally EXPLODE off of her opponent, his aura blazing around him like fire as he glared at her, rearing his head back before launching, of all things, a FIREBALL from his mouth.

Needless to say, Luna had scarpered before the thing had even finished pulverizing the wall behind her, but she didn't doubt her pursuer was hot on her tail.

Gouki, in the meanwhile, was currently chasing after the unusual feline, his eyes blazing with the thrill of the hunt, and the possibility of a challenge. While he'd admit he had his guard down at the time, the female creature's attack had nonetheless knocked him flying, something that didn't happen often. Also, in his ire, he'd instinctively flared his killing intent-laced ki and fashioned it to launch a Shakunetsu Hadouken, quite forgetting he lacked the hands to do so, right up until he fired the blazing fireball from his mouth like the world's deadliest hairball.

It was invigorating really, as he raced through the streets after his prey, and not the least bit cathartic, to know that while his body was reduced to that of a common feline, his vast reservoirs of ki and mastery of chi had not been lost, so much as rerouted to suit his new form better.

'It would explain how I was able to kick that vehicle with such force earlier.' He reasoned, a dangerous smirk crossing over his features 'This simplifies things a little…if I can figure out how to re-align my ki, maybe I can figure out how to regain my normal form.'

But first he had to finish things with the purple feline. Advantageous encounter or no, NOBODY tossed the Master of Fists around like he was yesterday's garbage.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"C'mon…c'mon…" Dan growled, gritting his teeth as he mowed down foe after foe, watching the timer drop rapidly, even as his own condition worsened "Just…just one more…YAHOO!"

On the screen, Sailor V gave her trademark victory pose as she stood atop a pile of enemies, one of which was holding a little white flag pitiably in the air, the announcer calling out in praise at having attained the new high score.

"Sugoi…!" Hotaru breathed, her eyes wide with awe as she watched the credits roll before her. Hibiki-san had only been playing for about an hour and a half and he'd already cleared the game! Even the current record holder took five! "I never thought anyone could beat Danburite!" she exclaimed, referring to the final boss "He always attacks so fast!" she sighed, watching the credits roll to a close "It's so sad though…Sailor V loved him…"

"That's why you should never trust pretty-boys kid." Dan opined sagely, crossing his arms and nodding his head like he knew what he was talking about "More often than not they're only trying to get into your pants…or your wallet."

"Pants?" Hotaru repeated, blinking up at the man in his pink, makeshift toga in abject, innocent confusion "Why would Danburite want to wear Sailor V's panties?"

Dan choked at the image, thinking of a few reasons anyone would want to get their hands on the stunning blondes undergarments, but realizing that he was talking to a child promptly set his conversation regulators to PG "Erm…because he's a bad guy and bad guys do naughty things." He offered lamely, before shaking himself, she wasn't three for kami's sake "That is, well…let's just say that pretty boys like to take advantage of pretty girls, and one way of doing this is to brag about getting their underwear."

"Oh…" Hotaru uttered, nodding her head in understanding. At least it meant a lot more sense that what Haruka-papa had told her about men, right up until Michiru-mama had slapped the blonde upside the head, muttering something about the couch. After all, boys and girls couldn't do that right? It sounded like it'd hurt and that was just silly.

"Hey check it out!" Dan exclaimed, looking to the screen as a new icon popped up in the text bar "Alright! New modes and costumes!" he cheered, clicking through them with a smile "Hey check it! There's a Danburite mode, take a walk on the dark side huh?"

Hotaru giggled, watching as Hibiki-san loaded the new game, tearing through the game as Sailor V's nemesis/love interest, using Danburite's impressive sword skills and projectile tarot cards to make short work of the Dark Agency goons.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"There's that noise again…" Michiru noted, looking up at the roof, on the other side of which was Hotaru's room, from her spot next to Haruka on the sofa, a frown marring her beautiful features "You don't think that-?"

"Relax." Haruka assured the aquamarine senshi, nibbling on her ear daringly despite her earlier protests "She's playing one of those Sailor V games I got for her the other day…you know, the house warming gift?"

"How can Venus allow them to abuse her image like that?" Michiru muttered primly, remembering seeing quite a few…ADULT pieces of literature concerning the senshi of love's alter ego at the game store the couple had purchased the games from, hidden from underage eyes behind the counter.

"Jealous?" Haruka asked, smirking at her lover, who slapped her wandering hand in response "Oh come now Mi-chan…you know I'm kidding." She pulled something out from behind her back "Though I can understand your frustration…wow…didn't know she was so flexible."

"HARUKA!" Michiru exclaimed hotly, her face flushing at the sight of her lover reading one of those…TRASHY magazines she'd seen in the store, and had actually given the owner a heated admonisment for attempting to sell "Why did you buy such a-!"

"Relax…this one's tentacle free…" she flipped a few pages "Mostly…" she corrected with a snort "Otherwise it's mostly right up our alley…look, they even threw her in as Venus."

Michiru turned her head stubbornly, but couldn't deny that the peak she'd gotten of Venus and Sailor V on the double page spread had been…oddly appealing.

Though she'd never give Haruka the satisfaction of knowing she'd corrupted her, not without a fight that is.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'Is he a monster?' Luna panted, leaning against a wall for breath, having not stopped running since her escape from the alley 'For that matter…how is he pulling off those techniques?'

Mau were not exceptionally powerful fighters, their magic was limited in feline form and the sheer amount of power needed to assume human form was beyond both Luna and Artemis until Usagi ascended as the next Serenity, which wasn't likely to happen any time soon. But here this 'Gouki, was it?' character had turned up, hurling fireballs and leaping down at her from the top of buildings, leaving his paws buried in the concrete like some sort of meteor.

'If he is a Mau…' the exhausted advisor noted, catching her breath at last 'Then he has to be a survivor from the Silver Millennium…but which Planet did he hail from?'

What was most troubling was that he wasn't using any magic at all in his attacks, even the fireball he'd spat at her hadn't had a trace of Mars' trademark magical energy, and last she checked, only the Mau aligned with the red planet could summon fire, though they certainly didn't spit it from their mouths like hairballs.

'If Lord Ares could've seen that…' she chuckled, recalling Artemis' counterpart from the Martian Court, a fiery red creature that had a warrior's temper. Now THERE had been a fighter! A role model that the scouts could have used in their time of need.

Sadly, he'd died on the front lines, being the only Mau that had been able to support his human form during the battle. He'd died fighting alongside his queen and princess, actually defending Mars' body from Youma right up until the moon was rendered barren.

For a moment, Luna entertained the terrifying notion that this was a Youma in disguise, only to brush it off as ludicrous. No self respecting Youma would disguise itself as anything other than human, even Rhett Butler had been a reincarnation. And besides, if he was a Youma, he'd have recognized her as a Mau and transformed in an attempt to eat her by now.

"Which mean's he's either a descendant of the Mau raised on earth." She voiced, eyes widening in shock as she put the pieces together "Or he's a survivor that's forgotten how to retain human form!"

"So you CAN become human at will." A dark voice noted, Luna freezing as she felt a familiar presence appear on the fence above her, looking up into the blazing red eyes of her pursuer with alarm "That is most interesting…perhaps even enough to warrant sparing your life…"

He leapt down, landing softly before her with apparently no difficulty whatsoever, before turning to glare at her with his crimson eyes. "Now…" he uttered, walking up to her with a growl "Tell me who you are…and how you are able to return to human form."

'Well at least he's not trying to kill me anymore…' Luna sighed, shaking her head in disbelief, before clearing her throat "It all begins back during the Silver Millennium…"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And I think we'll just finish there for now.

Danburite is NOT an OC of Dan in a past life. He's an actual character and the final boss of the Sailor V series, and the one that explained to Minako on their last encounter that the Dark Kingdom (Negaverse) was behind the Dark Agency. While Wikipedia didn't mention much of his abilities, they did mention he divined with Tarot cards, so I figured he could use them as weapons. I prefer to think of his fighting style as an amalgamation of Oswald from Kof, Luxord from KH2 and Tubalcain Alahambra from Hellsing.

Also, Yes there are doujin of Sailor V in the Sailor Moon Universe, Usagi and Rei seemed to collect them, though whether they stopped after Minako showed up is debatable.

Also, I figured the Mau (moon cats) weren'tgiven enough backstory, so I'll be mentioning a few bits here and there about Mau Culture as the fic goes on.

Halibel: Interesting.

Dan: Toga! Toga! Toga!

Gouki: Orokana-me...(looks around) 0_o mn?!

Hotaru: (mimicking Dan, dressed in a toga made from purple curtains) ^_^

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Omake theatre: Pretty Shotkan Soldier Hotaru II!

"You have got to be fucking kidding me..." Gouki muttered, watching as Hotaru pranced around the room, hugging the purple headpand to her chest wth glee, the little symbol for Saturn shining almost mockingly at the maned Neko.

"Oooh my head..." Dan muttered, clambering back onto the bed with a grunt, ears plastered low to his head "And my ass..." he muttered, tail sticking out straight "why do I feel like that time Jimmy and I got drunk in Ebiza?"

Gouki refused to answer, as that would mean he'd have to acknowledge the fool was there, and instead turned his attnetion to Hotaru "Brat, I hate to break it to you..." He paused, frowning slightly "Actually I don't, but that things probably just something the buffoon swallowed somewhere."

"Nuh-uh!" Hotaru insisted, looking down at the headband with a smile "It's the magical headband of Saturn! See, it says so right here!"

Gouki blinked, looking as the girl pulled our a small card from the back of the headband and held it out for them to read, a bead of sweat dropping down his head as he read over what appeared to be a list of instructions.

_1- Place headband on your head._

_2-Repeat the following chant: Fight! Fight! Headband of might! (Note: Striking a pose is optional, but encouraged)_

_3-Wait for bright lights to die down._

_4- Kick ass._

_Warning: Ensure you transform in a secluded area to avoud giving away your identity._

"What is this bullshit?" the master of fists muttered, only to curse as a bright light filled the room, looking round in alarm just in time to see Hotaru, the headband on her head, posing like some sort of Sentai character as she levitated off the floor, her body glowing white.

Before Dan and Gouki's eyes, the girl's clothes vanished in a flash of particles, only the light shining from her body protecting her modesty from whatever perverts were looking in on the scene. As the two neko's watched on in disbelief, the pree-teen's body slowly grew taller, the form developing at an accerated rate until she stoodjust under six feet, her long hair somehow braiding itself as it ran down her back, the remaining hair becoming a mess of spikes.

A Body suit formed around her frame, covering her from head to foot in a strange purple fabric that hid little from the imagination, even as what appeared to be body armour appeared around her ankles and wrists, a type of holster appearing around her torso and shoulders.

The light faded, leaving a tall, built woman where the small, innocent Hotaru stood, only her hair colour and eyes held any similarity to the little girl from a few seconds ago.

(For image sake, imagine Hotaru is dressed up in a purple and Black version of Elle Ragu's armour and Body suit from the Shadow Skill Anime. She looks just like Elle's as well, only her hair and eyes are Black and Purple instead of Stawberry Blonde and Green.)

"Yosha!" The newly transformed fighter cried out, her voice filled with confidence as she struck a pose, one fist extended and the other held near her chin "Champion of Justice, Seiken Fighter Dosei is here!"

Gouki blinked, looking over the impressively built warrior in front of him in disbelief, turning round to find Dan spread out on his back, a trail of blood extending from the pink neko's nostrils from watching the transformation sequence up close.

Down in the living room, Haruka sat bolt upright, a tingle racing up and down her spine as she looked around like an animal sniffing the air. 'Perv senses...tingling!' she realized, an eager grin slipping across her features 'I sense the arrival...of some new tail!'

Michiru, recognising the look on her lover's face, simply reached up and grabbed the horny blonde by the ear, dragging her towards their bedroom. It was time Haruka remembered just WHO was the master in this house, and velvet-kun hadn't been used in so long, the whip must be feeling lonely right about now.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

R&R or we'll set Michiru on you

Michiru: WHAT"S MY NAME?!?!?

* * *


	7. Chapter 7

Well here's another fine mess I've dragged you all into.

Hopefully we'll see a bit of action this time round, but most likely more comedic gold

Dan: *Waving a PS2 remote around, palying final fight) You will respect my Authoritah!

Hotaru: *Winning said match* NEVAH!

3-second KO!

Halibel: *Watching Dan sob in a corner* Pathetic.

My soul is one of madness...

* * *

Round 7.

Pluto frowned, looking at the time gates as the fog within continued to persist. Just earlier today she had been able to see Crystal Tokyo, her crown achievement, shining beautifully in the middle of a frozen wasteland. While the fact over 90% of the earth's population had been flash-frozen beneath the ice was pause for concern, it paled in comparison to the fact that the Silver Millennium's return had been assured.

But now the time gates were acting strange, where once had been the clear-cut image of Crystal Tokyo, there was once again the kaleidoscope of futures superimposed across one another that suggest the future was imperfect.

'What could have caused this?' She wondered, wracking her brains to see if she'd missed anything 'Duped Tomoe into signing Saturn into the Outer's custody…dropped her off at Uranus & Neptune's home…took care of an Anti-Youma weapon in production by erasing the idea from the creators mind…'

As the senshi of Pluto wracked her brain, she missed an image on the time gates of an older looking Hotaru Tome, dressed in a purple fighting Gi, holding a trophy over her head.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"S…so sad…" Hotaru sniffed, watching as Danburite lay in the arms of a distressed Sailor V, Dan having unlocked an alternative scenario where the man sacrificed his life for the heroine in the end "He really did love her…"

Dan, sniffing back snot as tears fell in miniature streams down his cheeks, merely nodded his head and continued to press the conversation button, reading through the script as the words pressed on.

"_You must…be strong…Sailor V…"_ Danburite insisted, laying there in the distraught blonde's arms as he slowly disintegrated from the feet upwards, becoming ash on the wind _'The people…need love…to live…" he smiled 'Protect their love…my…'_

The scene faded out, leaving only the silhouettes of the two lovers, which faded from view to be replaced by one of Danburite's tarot cards, The Lovers, lying embedded in the floor next to a single flower petal.

By this point, both Hotaru and Dan were weeping full on, the latter actually holding the back of his hand to his eyes in a bid to ward off the flood. "I take it back!" the master of Saikyo-ryu sniffled, "That there was a real man! If I had a guy like that as my disciple, Saikyo-ryu would be unstoppable!"

"What is Saikyo-ryu?" Hotaru asked, wiping away her tears with a little sniffle and looking up at her new friend in honest confusion, a little unnerved at how emotional he was being "Is it your martial arts style, Hibiki-san?"

"A-ah…" Dan nodded, blowing his nose, having emptied a box of tissues, and turning to face her, eager to spread the name of Saikyo, "I came up with it myself, it's a style that's taking the nation by storm!"

Hotaru listened on in fascination as Dan relived the origin of his own unique style to the girl, which was believe it or not rather true. The man HAD traveled the world to improve his skills, Sagat was the Emperor of Muay-Thai, NOT getting some experience would've been folly, and he Had studied under various masters, the problem was he'd only stuck around to learn the basics of their style, maybe catch a glimpse of a special technique or two, and then had to leave because he'd caught wind of Sagat being in the area, rushing off to challenge him and getting lost on the way.

While the main focus of the style had been Ansatsuken with elements of Muay-Thai, Chinese kempo had also factored heavily into the training. Dan had spent years in China, long enough to learn the language and earn honorary citizenship, a tournament prize, from the government. It was here he'd garnered his fleeting understanding of ki, enough to work out the basics of his Gadouken, from what little he recalled of Gouken's Hadouken demonstration.

Of course, projecting one's Ki, unknown to Dan, was actually the last thing he should have started at. Most Ki users first learned to access their ki at will true, but then they used it to reinforce their body, to speed up their punches and reflexes. Projectile attacks came only after one could perfectly maintain a ki flow through the body.

"And so, once I'd defeated Sagat in honorable combat," Dan recited, slapping a fist over his heart "I realized it was necessary to share my skills with the world, and so I set out to bring Saikyo-ryu to the people!"

Hotaru was gazing at the man in awe, her eyes wide, with a hint of sparkles, as he tale wound down to a close. Internally though, a presence at the back of her mind seemed almost amused by the man's words.

"Of course it's not been easy." Dan admitted, letting out an honest sigh of frustration as he took his seat at the edge of the bed "Most people don't take martial arts seriously, so I started of doing the lessons through mail order videos." He nodded sagely "That got me my first break, after that it took a few tournament matches to set up a dojo and get publicity." He smirked "Now I got kids begging their parents to let them join up!"

"Kids can learn?" Hotaru asked, looking quite amazed at the discovery. After all, she'd never seen anyone actually fight before, but most of the anime her classmates watched showed mainly adults, or teenagers.

"Of course!" Dan insisted, neglecting to mention that, up till now, all his students hadn't been much older than Hotaru herself, in fact, most were decidedly younger "True martial arts masters start off young! That gives them plenty of time to grow into it!"

"Can…Can I try?" Hotaru asked tentatively, wondering if she was being too outspoken. After all, she'd only known Hibiki-san for less than a day, and he already had problems of his own to deal with. Teaching a girl that suffered occasional seizures and black-outs had to be the furthest thing on his mind.

Dan blinked, looking down at the girl in surprise. He certainly hadn't been expecting THAT question! After all, he'd probably traumatized the poor girl with his appearing naked in her room, not to mention he was basically free-loading, having no doubt Gouki would insist they stick with her until she could get in contact with that Setsuna woman.

On the other hand, the girl looked oh s adorable, looking up at him with a combination of admiration and hopefulness, and at least this way he could soothe his martial artist's pride at being a freeloader. "Sure!" He offered with a nod, leaping to his feet atop the bed, clenching a fist and grinning "Saikyo-ryu's doors is open to all who seek to improve themselves! Be they boy or girl, young or old, we'll take anyone that has the drive to learn!"

Hotaru flushed, looking down nervously as she began to twiddle her fingers "A-arigato…Hibiki-san…" she offered, only to blink as he ruffled her hair, looking up to see him squatting in front of her.

"Hey," Dan chuckled, a smirk on his face as he gave her a thumbs up "No need to be so formal if you're gonna be studying the Saikyo-ryu." He smiled at her "Call me Dan-sensei."

Hotaru flushed, nodding her head energetically as she did so "Hai! Dan-sensei!"

"Yosha!" Dan exclaimed, standing up with his fist raised "Now off to bed with you my disciple! Early to bed, Early to rise, that is the Saikyo-ryuuuUOOOOH CRAP-!!!"

Hotaru blinked as Dan, who'd been posing near the edge of the bed, went tumbling over the edge, her eyes widening as she realized that his fall would alert her guardians, only for the toga wearing man to explode into pink smoke the second his head touched the floor, a much smaller thump, barely noticeable, being the only sound.

After a few, hesitant seconds, waiting for Haruka and Michiru to come rushing up the stairs again, the girl crawled over to the mess of pink bed sheets, unraveling it to reveal a swirly eyed pink Neko lying their, out like a light.

"Yo…yoyusuuuuu…" Dan bleated, his eyes little spirals of disorientation as he lay there, Hotaru giggling at the sight, before bundling the Neko up in a spare blanket, not wanting to risk another transformation, and laying him out at the foot of her bed, climbing into it herself with a sigh and a smile, drifting off into sleep within moments.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"And that's basically everything." Luna admitted, sighing with relief a the completion of her tale. It had taken several hours to recount the history of the silver millennium, even if it had only been the abridged version, let alone compose a detailed recollection of the events pertaining to the Scout's awakening and their battles over the past year or so.

The maned Mau, to his credit, had only shown impatience when she seemed to waffle on about something irrelevant, like the scout's immaturity or some hare-brained notion Usagi had gotten into her head. Otherwise he'd merely sat there, listening, taking it all in and processing it, trying to make sense of it all.

"So what you're telling me…" he Master of Fists muttered after a few minutes of silence that had followed her exposition "is that until this…Usagi, fully awakens to her heritage, you and this other…Mau, cannot assume human form at will?"

"That's exactly right." Luna admitted, glad that, at the very least, he wasn't just some muscle-bound brute. The fact he could comprehend the bombshell she'd laid on him proved he at least had a fully functional brain in there somewhere.

"But in order for this to come to pass…" Gouki continued, his voice seemingly laden with what sounded like contempt "she needs to take so long that the world is effectively turned into a frozen wasteland?"

Now THAT threw Luna for a loop, and quite a large one at that. It had honestly never crossed her mind that the earth, during the time of crystal Tokyo, was mostly a crystalline wasteland, and not entirely the fault of the invasion of the dark moon clan. She had to admit the fact that Usagi, USAGI, of all people, becoming the unopposed queen of a revived silver millennium had thrown her for a loop. Especially considering how regal and mature she was then compared to how she acted now. It was almost as if Princess Serenity had fully returned. "Um…yes?" she offered lamely, shivering slightly as the feeling of rage and contempt emanating from the maned tomcat grew, if anything, more potent.

"That will NOT do." Gouki muttered, glaring at the advisor, who felt a chill despite the burning ire in those crimson eyes "To allow such an ignoble fate to befall the earth…simply because she lacks the motivation to find her own power? Why have you not insisted she train harder?"

"Excuse me?" Luna demanded, internally wondering that herself, more specifically why she'd never thought to pose the question before "But you think it's been easy? Getting her to take the mantle of Sailor Moon seriously was hard enough! Let alone awakening the other Senshi!"

"Because you lacked the ability to command their respect." Gouki shot back, silencing her with a glare "But if regaining human form means I must smack some sense into this slip of a girl's head then you'd best tell her to wash her neck, lest I sever it with the force of the blow."

Luna blinked at what the maned Amu was implying, blinking once more as he turned around and padded off without a word. "W-wait!" she called out, "Where are you going?"

"Tell your scouts to prepare themselves for proper training." the tomcat called out over his shoulder, the kanji on his forehead glowing ominously "I will not allow them to squander the time between now and this so called cataclysm…from now on, their lives are in MY hands."

"Wait!" Luna called out, only for the Mau to leap up, easily clearing a 7-ft fence and running off into the night "You could have told me your name at least…" the advisor grumbled, before realizing, to her horror, that she had no idea where the hell she was.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was already dawn by the time Gouki found his way back to the Outer's home, having gotten held up by the fact that, Master of Fists or not, he was still only human, which meant his memory of the unfamiliar streets of Juuban was sorely lacking. In the end, he'd simply fixed the magical signature of the wards surrounding the house in his mind and run straight for it, causing several traffic jams along the way.

Hotaru had left the window open a crack, enough to keep most of the chill out, but also enough that it could be pushed open with a paw, allowing Gouki to slip into the room without having to wake anyone up. He scowled at the form of Dan, lying spread-eagled at the foot of the bed, wrapped in what looked like a pillowcase he'd ripped to shreds in his slumber. Deciding against dealing with the buffoon without at least an hours rest, he instead curled up at the foot of the bed, far enough away that there was no risk of the buffoon touching him, and closed his eyes in slumber.

Only to be awoken what felt like seconds later as Dan's foot came right out of left field and belted him right in the kisser, sending the maned Neko head over asshole off the bed and onto the floor.

"Mmm…yoyusuuuuu…"Dan mumbled, snoring loudly as he rolled over, only for Gouki to descend, hissing and spitting from on high, rousing the pink Neko as they began a fierce, cloth shredding catfight, feline yowls and screams rousing a startled Hotaru from her slumber.

"E-eh?" the purple-eyed girl started, looking around in confusion, only to blink as a dust ball with claws, fangs and the occasional patch of flying fur rolled back and forth at the foot of her bed "Gouki-san! Hibiki-san!"

"CALL ME SENSEI!" Dan's pain filled voice insisted from within the dust ball as they rolled past her sight again, only to shriek and turn his full attention back to the fight at hand "AGH! NO! STOP HITTING BELOW THE BELT!"

"ASSAULT 'ME' IN MY SLEEP WILL YOU?!" Gouki snarled, not in any mood to be accommodating after his rude wake up, espacially after what he'd learned the previous night "DIE! DIE AND BE REBORN YOU SACK OF SHIT!"

"WATCH THE LANGUAGE BUDDY!" Dan snapped, his pained screams ceasing for a few minutes in his ire "THERE'S A KID HERE DAMMIT! GYAAA!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tsukino Usagi yawned, rolling over in her sleep, having just smashed her alarm clock to bejeezus and back with her moon scepter, completely missing the fact she had a test today, the failing of which could result in her being held back a grade.

"Usagi…" a familiar voice called out, the blonde frowning an d burying deeper under the covers to escape her live-in Nanny/pet, "Usagi…"

Frowning slightly, the reincarnated princess rolled over, honestly considering using the moon scepter on her advisor, only to baulk in terror as Luna's face came into view, the eyes baggy and shadows forming around her like some sort of ghost.

"USAAAAGIIIII…"

The blonde's scream shattered the air, setting off car alarms, cracking windows, and demolishing the hearing of anything within a ten mile radius.

"My word…" Luna groused, pulling out her ear plugs as she looked up at her ward in embarrassment "Did you have to react like that? You'd think I was a Youma."

Usagi would have made a comment about Luna's face, at that moment, being WORSE than any Youma, droid, or whatever monster of the week she'd faced before, but she was too busy holding onto the ceiling for dear life…and that last scream had rendered her temporarily mute.

"Anyways…" Luna commented, glad she'd set up a barrier to keep the girl's family unaware, the reason she was so drained actually "I need you to let the other scouts know to meet up at Rei's temple later this evening." She shot the blonde a look "And don't even THINK about stopping by the arcade, or I'll tell Rei who's been hoarding her Saiyuki for the past week.

Usagi shut her mouth with an audible click, not that she could've said anything at that moment anyways. Rei was a real hellion when she was angry, that anger only got worse when someone touched her manga without permission. But Usagi just couldn't bear going a week without looking down at Gojyo-kun's face. She may have Mamo-chan in her life, but that didn't mean she wasn't allowed to look, right? And then there was the obvious (to her) tension between the redhead and the purple-eyed Sanzo-houshi…

"By the way, aren't you running late?" Luna asked, looking up at the drooling blonde with a bit of trepidation "You have a math's test first thing today don't you?"

Usagi was dressed and out the door faster than you could say 'moon', a piece of toast latched between her teeth and her book-bag spewing it's contents behind her with every other step.

'That girl…' Luna grumbled, before curling up on the blonde's pillow and deciding to contact Artemis on Usagi's communicator, which the bubblehead had left behind, after she took a quick catnap. After all, just because Usagi had to suffer through the day didn't mean Luna had to lose sleep over it, and it had taken all night to retrace her steps back to the house after the maned Mau had left her to her own devices.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Setsuna teleported back to the Outer's home with a slight headache and a desire to spend the rest of the day in a nice, soft bed, the second she got in the door. Using the Time Gates was exhausting work, especially when the future started acting unpredictable. Normally, she could handle one or three irregularities in the time-stream with a quick glance, major problems tended to take a bit longer but what was taking an hour or so when you could travel back with the answer and present it to your past self.

The fact that doing so wasn't doing her mental health any favors had long since ceased to be a pressing concern for the green-haired Senshi, who was so focused on achieving her goals she'd forgotten to factor in the survival of, oh, say, 80% of the earth's population. But in order for Usagi, or Sailor Moon rather, to ascend as the unopposed ruler of the world, the other rulers had to be…silenced. Anything else, according to the gates, and she'd be viewed as a messiah at best or a heretic at worst.

Sadly, Crystal Tokyo NEEDED the near apocalyptic destruction of the world's population to be established, as everyone would be so desperate for salvation they wouldn't question why someone with an artifact as powerful as the ginzuishou hadn't stepped in earlier. Hell, the only reason she didn't warn the future monarch of the Dark Moon clan was so Usagi and the senshi could travel forwards in time, thus strengthening their determination to see her plans to fruition.

"Yo, Setsuna." Haruka called out cheerfully, the blonde racer sitting at the breakfast table with a mug of coffee in one hand and the morning sports section folded in the other "Long night?"

"MUCH longer." The senshi of Pluto sighed, nodding towards Michiru in greeting, before turning to direct a tired smile at Hotaru, who was finishing a bowl of cereal at the table "And good morning to you, Hotaru-chan."

"Good morning, Setsuna-mama." Hotaru greeted, causing Setsuna's eyes to widen in surprise, and a little bit of pleasure if she was honest with herself "Haruka-papa told me to call you that." She offered, almost apologetically.

"Hey, if I'm going to be called 'papa' then I at least get to have two 'wives'." Haruka shot back at Setsuna's questioning glance, the shorthaired blonde smirking at the older woman from behind her coffee mug, only to yelp as Michiru slapped her, gently mind you, upside the head.

"Stop trying to corrupt Hotaru-chan." The aquamarine haired senshi warned her lover, offering an apologetic, long suffering look towards Pluto, who merely shrugged it off and made for the stairs, so deep in her thoughts and exhaustion that she was unaware of the fact that Hotaru was gazing at her back the entire time.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'Mataku…" Gouki muttered, glaring at Dan as the latter licked his wounds clean, having just been updated on the events of the previous night "I can't believe you spent the entire evening playing those asinine videogames..."

"Hey! Don't be dissing Capcom!" Dan shot back, spiking in protest at the larger neko's blatant disrespect of one of his favourite series, their Alley Brawlers series had been the basis of some of his more unique moves after all "And their not asinine, they're loads of fun!"

"Struggling against a worthy opponent in the heat of battle is 'fun'," Gouki countered with a glower, his eyes narrowing in disgust "Rotting your brain on that drivel is only fun if life as a vegetable appeals to you."

"You know what?" Dan muttered, glaring at the red-maned Neko in obviously distaste as he flipped the middle claw at him, earning a scoffof amusement from the larger feline "You can suck my-!"

"Hibiki-san! Gouki-san!" Hotaru called out, jogging out onto the street from the house with a smile, cutting off Dan's words with her arrival, the pink neko promptly hiding his paw as she pulled up before them "Are you coming with me?"

"Don't think they allow cats in school kiddo." Dan offered apologetically, smiling at the girls look of embarrassment "And I thought I told you, call me Dan-sensei!"

Gouki quirked the feline equivalent of an eyebrow at his fellow neko's words, but chose not to say anything in favor of dragging the buffoon into the bushes out of sight, just as Haruka came out to drive the girl to school on her way to work. The maned Neko scowled at the blonde, clamping a paw over Dan's mouth to silence him until he'd seen her drive off with Hotaru in tow.

"THORNS!" Dan yelped the minute Gouki released him, leaping out of the shrubbery holding his posterior tenderly, shooting the Master of Fists a heated glare "What in the hell'd you do that for?!"

"We can't let the three in that house learn of our existence." Gouki muttered, glaring up at the Outer's home distrustfully "I gathered some unsettling information last night…as well as a means to regain our normal forms permanently."

"You did?" Dan exclaimed, his eyes wide with shocked disbelief. I mean sure, he hadn't tested the full range of the 'Hug + Hotaru = Become Human' theory yet, or even if it only applied to Hotaru, but regaining his humanity permanently beat coming back naked as the day you were born for a few minutes. For one thing, you weren't likely to get fined for indecent exposure as often. "Well don't just sit there! Lay it on me!"

"No." Gouki shot back, smirking internally as the buffoon face faulted into the pavement with enough force to punch through the concrete. Petty, he'd admit, but NO-ONE kicked him in the face without repercussion.

"FINE!" Dan snapped, leaping to his feet and posturing angrily "Keep your damned secrets! I'll figure out a way on my own!"

And with that he marched off, head and tail held high down the street, leaving Gouki to look after him dismissively. "Orokana-me…" the red-maned Neko muttered, smirking despite himself, before leaping off in the direction of the bus stop. If he remembered correctly, there should be a map to this 'Hikawa shrine' somewhere around there.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hino Rei, otherwise known as Sailor Mars, let out a shocked gasp, recoiling from staring into her family shrine's sacred fire, kneeling on all fours as she gasped for breath, trying not to toss her cookies.

The teenage priestess/Senshi usually came in here to clear her mind here before heading off to school, at the same time seeking out any potential dangers that might arise during the day so as to warn the scouts beforehand. She'd taken on this additional task with determination as, in her opinion, Pluto's warnings tended to be a little unreliable, and far too infrequent in coming to be of any real use.

But the Senshi of Time's failings aside, there were bigger problems to deal with, as just before she'd been about to call it quits and get changed out of her robes, the flames had risen to a near inferno, displaying a figure straight out of the depths of hell, dressed in a tattered black karate gi, face concealed by shadowy flames, blazing red eyes and a matching fiery topknot adorning his face as he advanced towards her, killing intent washing over her and nearly stopping her heart.

'I have to warn the others!' she gasped, clutching at her throat in a near panic, stumbling to her feet and racing for the door, unaware of the growing wet stain on her Hakama…or the matching one on the floor of the shrine.

Needless to say, it was going to take more than salt to purify that stain.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And his coming will be heralded with Fire...

What new danger awaits the scouts as Gouki seeks out Rei home?

Will Dan be the first to figure out how to maintain Human form?

And will Usagi pass her test?

C'mon...it's me right?

Halibel: *Geese Style* Predictable...

Kyugan: You'd look pretty Hawt in hakama and Uwagi...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Omake: Pretty Shotokan Soldier Hotaru III!

"Everyone keep fighting!" Sailor Moon yelled, as she and the inners battled off against yet another monster of the week.

Or tried to anyways, as it seemed this one had taken a crash course of the Daimaou school of martial arts, and so had mastered the elusive, but effective, art of dodging the oncoming attacks instead of standing there like a gobshite.

Naturally, this meant the scouts, who were used to their foes becoming moon dust after the first two minutes, usually pulling off cheescake poses for the hidden cameras and papparazzi (though admittedly not to their knowledge) this was an unprecidented dillema.

And it didn't help that the thing looked like a cross a deranged tentacle sex fiend and what smelled like a toxic waste dump.

"Mercury! What's it's weakness!" Jupiter called out, sending a Sparking Wide Preassure at the thing, only for it to slither out of the way and hurl globs of itself in her general direction, which she was forced to dodge "Oh Kami-sama it's melting the cocnrete!"

"Burning Mandala!" Mars called out, sending several fireballs at the creature a smug look on her face as it was engulfed in purifying fire, only to baulk as it turned it's attention towards HER, the flames doing no more than adding to it's arsenal "Dammit! Do something Odango Atama!"

"But I'm scared!" Moon bawled, staying as far away from the thing as she could, not wanting to get close after what had almost happened to Venus. How the thing had managed to rip through the Senshi armour, which could withstand small arms fire despite it's design, she didn't want to know, but her fellow blonde had clearly been traumatized, as she just kept grinning about what had happened next, a deranged leer on her face as she lay against the wall

"Have courage Sailor Moon!" Cried out the resident cheerleader of the group, posing dramatically on a lamp post Well out of range of a random swing of the beast's tentacles and slime, as always "If you believe in love and truth, you shall surely GYAGH?!?!"

"TUXEDO KAMEN!" Sailor Moon wailed, watching as her protector/source of sweets was knocked off his perch by a randomly thrown glob of slime, the man's screams of pain as the highly corrosive stuff burnth through his pants causing many onlookers to wince.

"Hold it right there!"

The group blinked, looking up to find a shadow descending from above, the sun shining it as it crashed into the street, creating a small crater that knocked the senshi off their feet, Mars cursing as she turned her ankle because of her impractical high heels.

The rest of the group blinked in surprise at the impressive, make that REALLY impressive, physique of the new arrival, eyes widening as they noted her choice of dress, from the purple leotard to the highly revealing armor, only to blink as she pointed at the monstrosity with her finger.

"You! How dare you threaten the people of this fair city!" the newcomer cried out, the monstrocity actually pausing and looking around warily to see if she was talking to someone else, after all, no one actually spoke to monsters, "As a champion of justice, I shall give you one chance to surrender before I take you down!"

The creature, torn between bafflement at the newcomers arrival, attraction to her shapely form, and overall incapability to think outside it's natural process of 'Kill, rape, eat etc.', promptly came to the only decision it could see at the time and roared, sending tentacles hurling towards the woman.

What followed next was to graphic too be described in words, at least on this setting. Neeldess to say the monster was destroyed and the day saved, although it took a week to get all the red out of the woodwork. That, and Venus never looked at octopi the same way again.

Though Luna always wondered just where the strangely adaptable Youma had come from.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In a cell of the JSDF, a certain uncute Tomboy was rolled in on a stretcher, wrapped in a straightjacket with a muzzle firmly in place to keep her from biting her way out...again.

"Court is now in session." A stern looking judge called out, several snipers aiming their weapons at the girl, lest she, or any of her would be suitors, got any funny ideas. They'd already been assured that a certain Lost Boy was currently trying to find his way to the great wall in Antarctica, but better safe than sorry.

"Tendo Akane," the judge growled out, glaring down at the captive with a scowl "you are hereby charged with creating an enviromental hazard that almost wiped out the minato ward of Tokyo," he pointed to a picture of the creatue that had battled the scouts the week before "As well as the attempted poisoning of your entire familly, and several guests" here he turned his attention to a row of witnesses, including the girls father, who was upright but not all there because of the drugs needed to purge his system "how do you plead?"

"This is all Ranma's Fault!"

R&R or be fed Akane's cooking!

* * *


	8. Chapter 8

Who here is looking forward to seeing 'The Hangover' as much as I am? Now that promises to be a laugh riot of untold preportions.

Dan: You mean like Setsuna's Dry Spell? *Gets whacked upside the head by the Garnet Rod* OW!

Halibel: More like one of Shihoin Yoruichi's slumber parties...*dons a sleepy hat* Speaking of which...

Kyugan: Video? *holds up plushy cam* Please?

Halibel: If you're good...

Dan: Who the hell's Shihoin Yoruichi?

Vinyl-rip.

Kyugan:...oh you did not just say that...

I own nothing, now read on while I 'educate' Dan in the fine art of keeping up with the latest hotties.

* * *

Round 8.

While Gouki was making his presence known, albeit unintentionally, to the senshi as promised, Dan continued to walk the streets alone, grumbling to himself and uttering curses that caused people to look about in confusion at the 'phantom mutterer'. After all, cat's certainly didn't talk right? Especially not such adorable pink ones.

"Damn stuck up sourpuss…" the pink Neko muttered, walking down the street, relatively ignored by the public, save for the occasional female cry at his 'cuteness' and random schoolgirls snapping photos of him on their mobiles "Thinks he's so big just cause he can smack Ryu around with his pinkie…"

It's not like Dan was TRYING to piss off the Ansatsuken master, hell even he had realized that doing so was a veritable one-way ticket on the Shun Goku Satsu express. But the man kept putting him down, either mocking his hard-earned skills as a martial artist, or outright slandering his precious Saikyo-ryu.

'I'm pissed dammit!' he snapped, hair standing up on edge as he let out a growl that to him sounded angry, but to the onlookers sounded adorable 'I swear I better find something to beat up before I explode!'

A series of low growls reached his ears, blinking up in confusion as several alley strays, led by a rather battered looking, tiger-striped tom, took up posts along the walls, some of them smirking at him hungrily, the pink Neko realizing he'd walked into a deserted street.

"…What the hell…" Dan muttered with a snort, smirking up at the gang of flea-bitten felines as he settled into a low crouch, watching their scowls deepen at his voice "I'm could use a workout…" he leered at the leaping felines, "Just don't think you're getting outta this without a few scratches! RAKSHOU!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Artemis yawned, walking along the street, occasionally rubbing up against the legs of passersby, some of which stopped to give him a pat on the head. He didn't see what Luna kept going on about, the streets of Juuban were hardly dangerous to a lone Mau. Well, unless he happened across a Youma in disguise, but Pluto had assured them that, with Pharaoh 90 gone, it was a straight run to Crystal Tokyo.

Unkown to the white Mau, at that very moment, in a galaxy far, far, FAR away, a certain, Gold Clad Senshi sneezed, causing the dart she hurled to decide which galaxy she crushed next to stab into the Milky Way.

'I wonder if Luna's begun prepping Usagi for her duties as queen?' the white Mau pondered, stretching in a particularly delicious patch of sunlight, only to sigh 'Not that Usagi would sit still long enough…I mean so what if simply holding the Ginzuishou close helps unlock more of her power, it still does no good if she doesn't learn how to wield it.

Her recent string of successes aside, the advisor of Sailor Venus knew that Luna's charge was far from ready to accept the reigns of power. Simply waving a wand around and vanquishing a few Youma didn't mean she was mastering the power of the Ginzuishou, even if she HAD resurrected them all at least once before, there was still vast uses for the gem that had yet to be tapped.

'Like restoring life to the moon for example.' Artemis muttered, tail drooping as he recalled how the now barren satellite had once been the center of their solar system, from a political stand point anyways 'Let alone the other planets, but then even Pluto claimed she didn't see that happening any time soon.'

Artemis was the only one of the Mau who had remembered that there were four other senshi outside the Inners, though for the life of him he couldn't understand why he'd forgotten them in the first place. I mean it stood to reason that if the four Inner Senshi had reincarnated, then there was no reason for Serenity to have neglected the Outers.

'A shame we lost sailor Juno…' he muttered, recalling the destruction of the planet between Mars and Jupiter 'But without a planetary focus, she would've reincarnated as an ordinary teenager…if at all.'

The Mau was shaken out of his thoughts by several feline snarls, looking up in alarm as he saw several of his back-alley earth cousins go flying through the air, the look on their faces screaming 'WTF?!' as clearly as if they'd spoken. "A fight?" he wondered aloud, clambering up onto a bin and using it to vault onto the wall, running along it only to gape at the sight before him.

A slim, pink cat with brown ears that made her look absolutely adorable was swatting the strays aside with impressive skill, Artemis' eyes widening as she leapt through the air, hind paws extended in a passable rendition of a flying kick, sending another hoard of alley-strays flying in all directions. Landing on all fours, the pink wonder promptly rolled backwards, tucked into a ball, the attacking strays crashing into one another as they missed by a foot.

'That's no ordinary cat!' the Mau realized, watching the slender Neko bounce around like a tennis ball, giving the strays sharp blows to the head to ward them off before bouncing away like a tennis ball 'And that colour…so…CUTE!'

A tiger-stripe tomcat, clearly the leader, leapt off a nearby wall and onto the pink Neko's back, earning a startled yowl from the feline as it pressed the pink skull into a pile of garbage that had been overturned during the fight, raising claws high for the finisher.

Of course, being the gentleman that he was, Artemis couldn't just stand their while the brute took advantage of a lady. It had nothing to do with him thinking the feline looked positively cute.

'Well alright maybe a little,' he allotted guiltily. Luna might be his longtime friend and future mate, if Diana was anything to go by, and her regal charm and purple fur gave her an almost queen like elegance, but Artemis had always had a thing for bubblegum pink, one of the reasons he put up with Chibi-Usa despite the headaches she brought everyone.

So with a leap, the white Mau leapt from his post, the crescent moon on his forehead glowing as he scooped up the remaining strays, including the baffled leader, and HURLED them into a nearby dumpster, clanging the lid shut on top of them to keep them out of harms way for a while. They were lucky, it wasn't combustible trash day and Artemis was in a relatively good mood not to leave the bin locked up.

Muffled curses from behind drew his attention to the pink feline he'd just rescued, who was wiping down her face with her forepaws, looking absolutely adorable as she did so 'So I'm spoken for.' He muttered, looking her lithe frame over appreciatively 'So's Mamoru and HE lets HIS eyes wander from time to time…no harm in looking right?'

"That was a close one." He spoke out, smiling at the feline as she blinked at him, faint smudges of…filth, still sticking to her fur "Don't worry miss, I took care of them." He assured her, smiling as her eyes widened at his voice "Whoa no need to freak…well I suppose it is confusing, hearing a cat talk human." He scratched his head with a paw, sitting with his tail around his feet "I'm so used to keeping quite around Humans, I guess it's nice to just get this all out in the open."

"What the hell?" a confused, decidedly MALE voice sputtered, Artemis eyes bugging out as he spun his neck around so fast he nearly slipped a disk, only to blink as he realized the alley was deserted "You get stuck as a cat too buddy?"

Artemis, blinked, looking around in disbelief as the pink feline he'd THOUGHT was an adorably coloured Queen stood up, his eyes bugging out at the sight of the kanji on it's forehead, the Japanese kanji for 'strongest' if he wasn't mistaken. 'A Mau?' he breathed, a feeling of confused, awe inspired hope rushing through him at the thought of more of his kind existing on earth 'I've been chatting up a Mau and I didn't realize it? I must be slipping…'

"Forgive me miss." He offered with a slight bow of his head, eyes closed respectfully as was Mau custom when greeting a female of undetermined rank "Had I known would were a Mau I'd have not interfered in your duel."

"Your damn right you shouldn't have interfered," the same voice from earlier grumbled, Artemis blinking as he looked up to see the decidedly MALE voice coming from the adorably coloured Mau "And who the hell are you calling a Miss?!"

"You're…a GUY?!" Artemis choked, his world going white as he felt a small portion of his soul die, his guilty dreams for a pink furred playmate eluding him once again 'Why Serenity…' he wondered aloud, watching the vision fade away in a million, glistening shards 'What have I done to deserve such cruelty?'

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You're damn right I'm a guy you putz!" Dan snapped, glaring at the skinny pale feline that had insinuated he was anything but 100% beefcake. Didn't this freak know that only manly men could pull off wearing pink? Why else would he make sure all his fighting outfits were so?

Well…admittedly, back before he'd begun raking in the dough with his Saikyo-promoting, it was because he'd always gotten into the habit of buying the cheapest gi he could get his hands on, which for some inexplicable reason always happened to be some shade of pink. Even after he'd beaten Sagat he'd kept with it, as by now the Pink Gi had become a trademark of the Saikyo-school and Dan himself.

'The girls seemed to adapt to it quicker.' He noted, recalling watching his female students giggling at each other when they weren't sparring, the boys sulking in a corner, some of them having forgone the gi for simple P.E Clothes 'Ah well, they'll learn to accept it as I did!' he reasoned, before turning his attention back to the talking feline.

Artemis, by this point, had turned into a stone statue, bits of him drifting off in the wind as his soul slowly drifted out of his mouth. So great was the Mau trauma, his mourning at the shattering of his dream, that he didn't see Dan's paw swatting down until he'd crashed nose first into the pavement. "OW!" he yowled, covering his abused noggin fearfully "LUNA I SWEAR I DIDN'T DO IT!"

"Who's Luna?" Dan asked, drawing the frantic, defensively grovelling Mau's attention back to himself as he stood over him, looking confused, annoyed, and a little interested "She another talking cat? Or your owner?"

"My…?" Artemis stammered, still unable to cope with the cute pink feline being male, a rather coarse sounding one as well, before sighing and sitting up, dusting himself off regally "Erm, no…Luna's my consort…" he flushed "And future wife."

'Cats can get married?' Dan thought in disbelief, eyes widening in alarm at the thought, before shaking his head with a snort of wonder 'This is turning out like those freaky Shoujo manga Sakura's friend keeps leaving around the Dojo.'

"Anyways," Artemis coughed, forcing down his flush as he turned to address his fellow Mau, his composure back in place "My name is Artemis, my apologies for the misassumption before." He nodded towards the neko-fied Saikyo-ryu master, "And you good sir?"

"Hibiki." Dan offered, patting a paw to his chest as he spoke, a grin on his face as he somehow, once again, managed to pull off a thumbs up despite lacking the appendages "Hibiki Dan, at your service! If it's about kicking ass and taking names, I'm your man!"

Artemis gaped at the strange feline before him, or more accurately at the perfect thumbs up he'd managed to pull off, despite a lack of opposable thumbs…or fingers for that matter. "Uh…right…" he stammered, a bead of sweat sliding down his forehead as he coughed diplomatically. "Anyways, I must admit it's amazing to bump into a fellow Mau on the street like this, I personally thought Luna and I were the last, just where have you been hiding yourself friend?"

"The hell's a Mau?" Dan asked, earning shocked look from Artemis as he titled his head in confusion, question marks popping up around his face like flower petals "and what'd you and your wife do to get stuck as cats?"

"Stuck as…" Artemis stammered, before shaking his head and looking at the pink tom with a frown "Hold on, I think we need to start at the beginning..."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hotaru-chan!" Chibi-usa called out, waving energetically at her best friend from her desk as the purple-eyed girl entered the classroom, with seconds to spare before the bell "You made it!"

"Usa-chan." Hotaru greeted, smiling at the future daughter of Sailor Moon and King Endymion from the future. The pink haired girl was waving at her from a window seat, her trademark pointy-odango hairdo bobbing as she beamed at her. 'Wait…Sailor who and What mask?' the purple eyedgirl wondered, placing a hand to her head at the memory of the girl's parents 'I thought Usa-chan was living with her cousin, Usagi?'

"You okay, Hotaru-chan?" Usa asked, looking over at the girl in concern as she slumped into her seat, pressing a hand to her forehead to check her temperature "You're not still sick are you?"

"No…just a bit tired." Hotaru assured her friend, shaking the bizarre image of Chibi-Usa's cousin and some strange man in a mask out of her head "I moved in with some friends of Papa's till he gets better the other day."

"Is your dad alright?" Usa asked, concern for the white haired doctor evident in her eyes. Even if he HAD been an enemy, he'd been doing it for Hotaru's sake, which was why Mistress 9 and her goon squad had managed to rope him in so easily.

"He needs lots of rest." Hotaru replied, a smile on her face as she recalled seeing her father off that day, how he'd assured her he'd been fine, and to have fun with her new friends. "Besides, Haruka-papa and Michiru-mama said we could visit him on weekeneds."

'Hotaru and Michiru? The OUTERS?!' Usa stammered, eyes widening as she remembered the two older senshi with less than fond memories. Oh yes they'd patched things up with her mom and the Inners, sort of, after Usagi had put them in their place, but Usa, or Chibi-Moon as she was otherwise known, would never forget the fact they'd tried to kill her beast and only real friend in the past.

Before she could speak however, the door opened and the school secretary walked in, a kind look on her face "Now class, please settle down." She called out, the kids lining up obediently behind their desks "Now sadly, it seems Haruno-sensei had to retire," she shot certain members of the glass a sharp look "apparently dying her hair pink last week didn't do her blood pressure any good."

Hotaru giggled along with her fellows, though mainly because of the pout on Chibi-Usa's face. The girl just couldn't understand what everyone thought was so funny about pink hair.

"So we'll be welcoming a new sensei to day." The secretary offered, nodding towards the door "They're all yours."

A man walked in, earning looks of awe from the class at how BIG he looked. He was dressed in a plain, blue-collar shirt with short sleeves, open at the neck due to the size of his torso, which was well developed, the muscles of his arms toned like that of an athlete. Despite his height he moved with cat-like grace, his features that of a foreigner, perhaps European, with a moustache and stubbly-beard on his chin, though the real eye-catcher was his unusual hairstyle, which reminded more than a few of horns.

Placing his books and a file on the desk, the new teacher turned to face them, removing a pair of half-moon spectacles from his nose and wiping them down as he spoke. "Good morning class." He greeted, his voice low and authoritative as be nodded at them, his features neutral "My Name is Blueno-sensei, and I'll be taking you for the rest of the semester." He replaced his glasses and smiled, though if someone looked closely they could see it didn't seem to fit him "Now then…who here likes baseball?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"And that's basically it." Dan finished, looking over at Artemis as he finished his recollection of how he and Gouki came to become members of the hairball club.

Artemis, to his credit took it rather well. For one thing it meant there was still hope of a pink furred female Mau turning up out of the blue…one that WOULDN'T be related to him in any way. Adorable or not, Diana was too much like Chibi-Usa for his sanity at times.

"This is a lot to take in." the advisor to the senshi of love admitted, shaking his head in wonderment at the tale he'djust been told "and you're staying with Sailor…I mean, this Hotaru girl for the time being?"

"Yeah." Dan admitted, nodding his head, completely missing the Mau's slip of the tongue "Gouki figures that since the woman that dropped her off used magic, then there was a good chance the other two were magic users too."

'This Gouki fellow's pretty sharp.' Artemis noted with a shiver, 'And a lot closer to the truth than he knows.' He frowned 'Still…why on earth would Pluto convince the outers to adopt Saturn? Weren't they trying to kill her off not so long ago?'

Yet another thing for the white furred Mau to ponder abut his supposedly one-time friend. Ever since being sent down to train Minako, Artemis had been skeptical about the gaps in his memory. He may not have been as diligent as Luna, she was the former royal advisor for Serenity's sake, but he wasn't so negligent or scatterbrained that a few millennia in cold-storage could have not only kept the princess' features from him, but the fact that the Outer Senshi had reincarnated along with the inners as well.

'But what else could it be?' he wondered, wracking his brains and coming up with a splitting migraine 'Dammit, I don't like this…not only is Pluto keeping things from us, but I'm only starting to realize it NOW!'

"So anyways," Dan muttered, cutting into the Mau's thoughts, cutting off the growing migraine, much to Artemis' relief "You know anything about how to change back to human form buddy? So far the only option I got is temporary."

'This guy's figured out how to become human?' the Mau exclaimed, eyes widening as he gaped at the Mau that claimed to be some sort of martial artist 'But how? Usagi hasn't ascended as Serenity yet! Though that might explain why it's only temporary...'

"Well…I suppose increasing your magical strength could help you attain human form faster." He submitted, earning a confused look from the pink Mau, "But usually we Mau aren't granted that ability until a member of the Serenity line becomes one with the Ginzuishou, thus increasing our magical reserves."

"Ginzui-what now?" Dan repeated, earning an exasperated look from the white Mau, who questioned the logic in recounting the entire history of the Silver Millennium to this guy and decided to skip it if possible.

'He'd probably forget it before I'd finished.' Artemis reasoned, before clearing his throat and shrugging offhandedly "Basically it's a magical gem that increases your power to the nth degree." He explained "Only a Serenity can wield it properly, and the current one still hasn't reached the required level of power to do so."

"Oh…" Dan muttered, brow furrowing as he tried to process that piece of info, Artemis idly wondering if he would have to dumb it down even more "So basically she needs to level up before she can pull off the big spells? Gotcha."

Artemis blinked, as that was actually a rather astute way of looking at things. He wondered if the oddly coloured Mau would mind him using it to motivate Minako and the other Inners, as it seemed only Ami had any idea what he and Luna were talking about when they badgered the girls about training.

'Training!' the Mau yelped, slapping a paw to his head as he looked wildly around for the time. With all that had happened he'd completely forgotten about meeting up with Luna at Rei's temple to discuss some 'new developments', as she'd put it. "Listen, I have to go." He muttered, standing on all fours and nodding at the confused tomcat "Can we talk about this later? I'll be at the Hikawa shrine on the other side of Juuban!"

"Old man Hino's shrine?" Dan repeated, wondering how a talking cat could know the kindly, if perverse temple head that had once let him sleep in the temple in exchange for doing a few chores, looking up to find Artemis had already scampered off "Fast little bugger isn't he?" he muttered, only to grunt and stretch lazily "Right then…let's see if I can find my way back…"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Tadaima." Hotaru called out, entering the Outer's home with a smile, only to blink as she entered the kitchen, espying Michiru, wearing a large apron and not much else, cooking at the stove "Michiru-mama?" she called out, watching in alarm as the woman shrieked, spinning round to gape at her in surprise.

"H-Hotaru-chan!" the aquamarine haired woman gasped, endeavoring to keep as much of her back concealed as possible as she stared at the girl, cursing herself for forgetting it was a half-day today "H-How was school?"

"It was alright." Hotaru offered, eyeing her guardian with confused wariness, wondering why on earth she'd be wearing nothing but an apron, as it wasn't that hot today "The new teacher, Blueno-sensei, taught us how to play baseball at lunchtime."

"Wasn't that nice of him?" Haruka called out, smirking as she came to stand in the doorway, eyeing her normally reserved lover with quirked eyebrows and a raunchy grin "Well now, isn't this a nice surprise?"

"Hotaru-chan, why don't you go get changed for lunch?" Michiru suggested, shooting an unrepentant Haruka a look that promised punishment later for this little stunt. She didn't doubt for a second that Haruka had picked the girl up without ringing home for this exact purpose.

Hotaru nodded, retreating up the stairs while Michiru advanced on a suddenly nervous Haruka with a spatula, closing her room door and leaning against it with a sigh.

"Yo!" a familiar voice called out, earning a startled squeak from the girl as she looked up just in time to see Dan sitting in front of the television, somehow managing to play her Sailor-V game despite having no fingers to press the buttons "You're home early kid."

"It was a half-day today." Hotaru revealed, smiling at the Neko as she put her things away with a diligence that was born of years of having taking care of her things "and what about you Hibiki-san? Did you have fun?"

"First of all, call me Dan-sensei." Dan insisted, not tearing his gaze away from the screen as he shredded his way through arcade mode as Danburite "rassa-frassin…stupid hyper-combo…and yeah I suppose…got involved in a bit of a tussle with some strays and met some talking cat named Artemis." He snorted "S'like there's a freakin' convention…"

Hotaru giggled at the idea of an army of brightly coloured Hibiki-san's competing against each other in a tag-team video tournament, waving their little paws and giving thumbs ups towards the cameras.

"So anyways, I'm supposed to meet up with him at some place called Hikawa shrine." Dan muttered, gritting his teeth as he faced off against Boss-Danburite, who seemed so ridiculously overpowered it wasn't even funny "Dammit! Don't lose to this poser you tarot tossing playboy!"

"Hikawa shrine?" Hotaru repeated, looking up in confusion at the name, pressing a finger to her lips as she tried to recall where she'd heard it before "I think Usa-chan mentioned that place once…it's not far from here by bus."

"YAHOO!" Dan yelled, sending the cheap-ass, overpowered boss flying with a super combo to the face "Hah, eat the Hand of Fate poser!" he crowed, pulling off muscle poses as the scoreboard came up "Aw yeah high score! WOO!"

"You're really good at this." Hotaru noted, sweat-dropping as she realized Dan had outdone himself yet again. Not that it mattered, as his was the only name visible on the high-score sheets by now. "REALLY Good."

"A martial artist must face every challenge with the determination to win." Dan intoned sagely, crossing his arms and nodding "That is the Saikyo way!" he smirked up at her as she giggled "So what were you saying about a bus?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In her room, Meiou Setsuna sat up with a jolt, sweat dripping down her forehead as she gazed around the room with the paranoid glance, only to relax and drop back onto the pillows. 'Just a dream.' She muttered, shaking her head and sighing 'I really need to get more sleep…any more of these all-nighters and I'll be in no shape for the big freeze.'

Still, it had been such an unusual dream, a fleeting memory of one of the stray images she'd witnessed in the Time Gates before coming home. A teenage Hotaru, dressed not in a Sailor Fuku, but a purple karate gi with a black muscle shirt underneath, standing over her, the Garnet staff lying at her feet, snapped in half.

But that was impossible, not only were Hotaru's memories of Saturn sealed away, a side effect of being reincarnated again, but the last Setsuna checked, Hotaru wanted to be a doctor, and was as adverse to hurting people as the Dalai Lama.

And so with a grunt, the Senshi of Time slipped back into a fitful sleep, her mind reaching out to her vision of the future, her face relaxing as she envisioned her utopia come to pass.

Though why on earth she had a sudden urge to shred the pink nightdress Michiru had given her to sleep in she hadn't a clue.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Omake: Pretty Shotokan Fighter Hotaru IV!

"Dammit!" Rei snarled, tossing her magazine to the floor, where it displayed a grinning Dosei making a victory sign at the reader "Just who is this 'Justice Fighter Dosei' chick anyways?! Ever since she came there's been nothing for us to do!"

"It is unusual that she always manages to finish the job before we can launch an attack." Mercury noted, running what little information she had on the newest warrior of justice through her mercury computer "Perhaps she's a warrior of the Moon Kingdom?"

"With an outfit like that?" Rei deadpanned, earning a flush from the bluenette as she held up another magazine at the centerfold, which included a candid shot of Dosei from behind "I mean our Senshi outfits are a little revealing too but c'mon! She's practically NAKED!"

"I wonder what she eats to get her figure like that..." Minako opined, earning a deadpan expression from the fiery priestess "What? It's a harmless enough question, she doesn't sound much older than Haruka and Michiru but her body's ten times hotter!"

"I'd like to know where she learned to fight like that!" Makoto noted eagerly, watching a replay of one of Dosei's fights on Rei's portable TV, pumping her fist as the leotard sporting fighter sent the opponent flying with a barage of punches and kicks, followed by a Ki blast to the chest.

"But she's doing OUR job!" Rei insisted, trying to drive the point home that their sacred duty as guardians of love and justice was being usurped by someone that had literally come out of the blue "I mean what if she's a threat to Crystal Tokyo?"

"Relax." Minako assured the priestess, a smile on her face as she marvelled over Dosei's figure in the magazine again "If she was an enemy, Pluto and the Outers would've already challenged her by now."

"We interrupt this broadcast for an emergency news bulletin!" a newscaster called out, earning a curse from Makoto, for the fight had been getting to a really good part "A Youma riot in Juuban's Public Park has been halted by Justice Fighter Dosei!" a small cheer was heard in the newsroom, much to the senshi's bemusement, or in Rei's case, ire "However," the newscaster continued "shortly afterwards she was accosted by two of this city's long standing protectors, Sailors Uranus and Neptune!"

"You see!" Mars cheered eagerly, pointing at the screen as the broadcast switched to live broadcast "What more proof do you...need?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So you're the so called new kid on the block are you?" Uranus called out, leaning against a tree with her arms crossed under her breasts, a smirk on her face as she looked Dosei up and down "Not to shabby, but you're interfering in Senshi business."

"I can not stand idly around while innocents are threatened!" Dosei countered energetically, the power of the Senshi disguise magic preventing Hotaru from recognising her 'Haruka-papa' like everyone else "In the name of justice, I shall strike down my foes with an iron blow!"

"An impressive stance." Neptune complemented, her pose mimicking her lover's as she stepped out on the other side of the tree "However, we are far to used to enemies disguising themselves as allies to take you at your word."

"I have no grudge against you." Dosei admitted with a frown, moving into a ready stance as she sensed the power emanating from the two senshi "However, if you come at me, then expect me to defend myself!"

"Just try it!" Uranus countered, smirking summoning her power into her hand and smashing it into the ground, sending a planet shaped blast of energy towards her opponent "WORLD SHAKING!"

"Ichigeki-!" Dosei called out, rearing one fist back with a growl, before thrusting it right into the oncoming sphere of energy "HISSATSU!"

The blow sent the attack careening back the way it came, Uranus simply staring, her eyes bugging out of her skull as her own attack bore down on her like a freight train "SHI-!"

"Uranus!" Neptune cried out, looking on in shock as her lover was hit by her own attack, the smoke clearing to reveal the short haired Senshi lying in a small crater, her eyes little concussed spirals "Why you!" she swore, summong her own attach into her hand "DEEP SUBMERGE!"

Dosei leapt over the crashing wave of energy, landing in a tree and leaping off it as Neptune kept up the assault by following it up with a Submarine Reflection, freezing the very air around them, and the surrounding plant life too. "That's enough!" the purple clad fighter insisted, looking down at the Aquamarine Senshi in anger "To harm such natural beauty is a great injustice! Prepare yourself!"

Neptune, caught off guard by the sudden change in her opponent's attitude, let out a yelp as Dosei sudden appeared right in her face, her eyes widening as a hand grabbed her behind her back, and a mortified blush forming as the other drifted south of the equator "HIII-?!"

"Ukigumo..." Dosei called out, leaping up into the air, still holding tight to Uranus, a fact that caused the aquamarine haired woman to blush even harder, even as they began to spiral downwards "SAKURASANKA!"

Uranus, whose mind was a complete mess from the turn of events, didn't even have time to yell as she was slammed back first into the concrete, bouncing off it and landing on top of the equally dazed Uranus, even as Dosei landed on all fours over them, like a cat. (Imagine Yoruichi's pose from the cover of the bleach manga)

"Think about your actions today and repent." the purple clad fighter ordered, before leaping off in a blur of motion, the two outers staring after her in disbeleif as she cleared the treeline and vanished in mid-air.

"...Is it just me, or are you as turned on as I am right now?" Uranus asked, her eyes never leaving the spot where Dosei's firm ass had dissapeared, a slight flush coming over her features as she recalled how the purple clad fighters breasts hand dangled an inch from her face.

For once, Uranus was too stunned to reprimand her lover for her wandering eyes. For one thing she didn't believe in branding herselfa hypocrite. For another, she was wondering if she could replicate that last move the fighter had used on her on Haruka, as it had felt DAMN good, and the duo were always looking for new experiences in their nightly escapades.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"And the Outers are DOWN!" the announcer cried out, refastening his tie, several lipstick kisses trailing his face as the camera swtiched back to the newsroom "Clearly this is a sign that our beloved Senshi need to get their act together and learn how to share!"

Rei gaped, torn between amusement that Haruka had gotten her come-uppance, long overdue in the Inner's opinion, and shocm that the Outers had been trounced so easily.

"That was so cool!" Makoto cheered, pumping her fist, her eyes blazing in a manner oddly reminiscent of a certain taijutsu enthusiast, only with much better fashion sense and eyebrow grooming "I wanna be able to do that!"

"Still doesn't make it clear if she's an enemy though." Rei muttered, crossing her arms and huffing stubbornly, refusing to admit that the sight of someone PUNCHING Uranus' attack right back at her had been damn cool, out loud anyways.

"C'mon Rei," Usagi sighed, looking at her best friend with a teasing smile, clearly not thinking much of the priestess' suspicions "If she was an enemy she could've finished them off then and there!" she scoffed "Besides, Don't you think Setsuna would've seen her coming if she was?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"WHAT IN THE HELL IS A 'CHEESE ERROR'?!?!" Sailor Pluto snarled, smacking her Garnet Rod into the side of the Gates of Time in a fit of rage "Dammit! I thought I debugged this thing already!"

With a crackle of static the gates cleared, displaying Dosei as she roof-hopped across Juuban, the Senshi of Time smiling,nodding her head in satisfaction as the tried and tested method of 'smack the damn thing till it worked right' proved to be as effective now as it had been back in the Silver Millenium. "Now then..." she muttered, watching as this new arrival continued her rooftop journey "Let's see who or what you are."

She frowned as the fighter ducked down into an alleyway, looking around warily before slipping into the shadows, hidden from mortal eyes but not from the Gates of Time, and by Proxy, Pluto. 'That's it...' the Time Mistress urged, leaning in closer as Dosei exhaled and reached up to unclasp her headband 'Show me your true form!'

Just as Dosei pulled the headband off, there was a burst of static and the screen changed to reveal a man on stage as a catchy theme tune started playing.

_"Neva gonna give you up! Neva gonna let you down! Neva gonna turn around and, Desert you!"_

The Senshi of time face faulted, her leg twitching spasmodically, unwittingly giving the viewers the panty shot of the century as she lay there in a broke heap, the rest of the song washing over mockingly.

"GOD DAMMIT!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Read & Review or be Rick-Rolled for life!

* * *


	9. Chapter 9

Well, things are starting to pick up, I wonder just how far this can go...

Dan: All the way!

Hotaru: Yatta!

Halibel: Persevere...and you willbe rewarded.

* * *

Round 9.

After a very enjoyable lunch of lamb stew and rice, Hotaru managing to sneak some of it up to Dan while Michiru and Haruka weren't looking, the purple eyed girl waited about an hour before coming down the stairs with her backpack over her shoulder.

"Going somewhere Hotaru-chan?" Haruka asked from the couch, looking up from watching the sports channel and quirking an eyebrow at the backpack on her ward's shoulders "You running away?"

"Haruka-papa!" Hotaru exclaimed, blushing at the insinuation "I'm just going over to visit a friend, I'll be back before dinner."

Haruka frowned, looking the girl over carefully for a few seconds, before covering it up with a smirk "Call if you're gonna be late." She insisted, nodding towards the clock on the wall "Hell, gimme a ring anyways and I'll come pick you up."

"Hai!" Hotaru agreed, before skipping past a startled Michiru as she entered the room, the aquamarine senshi looking after their young charge in confusion, before looking towards the grinning Haruka for an explanation.

"She's off to see Moon's brat." Haruka explained, snorting as Michiru nodded in relieved understanding "Mataku…this parenting thing ain't so hard." She scoffed, taking a sip of her beer as she continued to read the paper.

"Then you wouldn't mind having a few of your own?" Michiru asked coyly, giggling as Haruka's spit-take sprayed the T.V, and a good portion of the wall, with booze "You'd make a fine father, Haruka-papa."

"Why you…" Haruka growled, chasing after her giggling lover with a playful snarl "Oh you'll pay for that Mi-chan!"

Needless to say, the two lovers intended to use this private time to their fullest.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unaware of the…revelry, going on inside her home, Hotaru had skipped out the door, making sure she had her key in case Haruka couldn't pick her up, before making her way to the bus-stop, where she looked over the timetables for the Hikawa-shrine route. She blinked as her backpack rustled, eyes widening and pulling it off her shoulder as it began to kick savagely, undoing the zip just as Dan stuck his head out with a gasp.

"BAH! AIR!" the pink Neko choked out, looking half-smothered as he drew in huge, precious gulps of air with each grateful breath "Man that wasn't good…thought I saw the light for a second there…"

"Hibiki-san…daijobu?" Hotaru asked, looking around nervously in case someone saw her talking. It wasn't that she was ashamed of her new friend, oh no, but she'd already been referred to as the weird girl when she was sick, she didn't need people adding on 'the weird girl that talks to cats' to her name.

"Fine, fine…" Dan assured her, shaking his head to clear it of the funk, before looking up at her teasingly "You forgot to wash your gym socks, Hotaru-chan…and call me Dan-sensei!"

Hotaru blushed scarlet offering her apologies, either for the socks or the slip was uncertain, before looking up as the bus finally arrived, stuffing Dan back into the bag and zipping it up, but leaving enough of it undone so the Neko could breath. Grunting as he was tossed about amongst the clutter, the transformed master of Saikyo-ryu let his eyes peek out of the gap, roaming over the cramped passengers, shuddering at the smell of old people as they walked past a group of granny's, no doubt on their way to pay their respects at the shrine.

Hotaru, upon paying for a return ticket, assuring the driver she was used to traveling alone, promptly made her way down the isles, finding a seat at the very back next to a fat, balding guy in his forties, dressed in a cheap business suit, his features concealed by the massive newspaper he was reading, barely tilting his head to regard Hotaru as the girl sat down next to him with her bag on her knees.

Dan bristled from inside the bag, not liking the look the guy had given Hotaru from behind those tinted glasses of his one bit. His instincts proved correct as, not ten seconds after the guy's right hand slowly edged towards Hotaru's leg, the limb covered in sweat, which was running down the old farts brow as well. But Dan was having none of it, and faster than you could yell 'OI!', he'd stuck his paw through the gap in the bag and SLASHED at the offending limb, the man recoiling with a yelp, free hand gripping the injured one as he backed up against the windows, eyeing the girl's bag with wide eyes as feline growls emanated from it.

"Next stop, Hikawa shrine." The conductor announced, sending a suspicious look back down the bus through his rearview mirror. Hotaru, who'd been shocked by the man's yell, having not noticed the hand, merely offered the bleeding pervert a kind smile and bow, before heading off with the granny patrol towards the exit, her bag over her shoulders once more.

The pervert watched her go, looking out through the window warily, only for his eyes to widen in disbelief as a pink furred Neko stuck it's head out of the bag, glaring at him as it flipped the middle claw at the retreating bus.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Are you sure of what you saw in the fire Rei-chan?" Mizuno Ami, AKA Sailor Mercury asked, looking over at her fellow Senshi, and part time priestess, in concern "I mean…are you certain it wasn't…"

"I'm telling you it wasn't a dream!" Rei insisted, slapping her palm on the tatami floor of her room, looking absolutely livid at the idea that anyone would question her abilites "I saw that…thing, as clear as day!"

"Oh come on Rei!" Usagi chuckled, waving her hand dismissively from her spot under Rei's kotatsu, the girls having taken up their conversation in Rei's room under the guise of 'studying', as usual "Pluto told us there's no more enemies between here and Crystal Tokyo right? That means no more Youma, no more Droids, no more creepy bishounen Generals trying to track us down…"

"No more fun…" Aino Minako cut in jokingly, winking at her fellows playfully asthey turned to gape at her in abject confusion and alarm "Oh come on, some of the bad guys looked pretty good, you gotta admit."

"Just because my dating pool isn't exactly filled to bursting doesn't mean I go looking at the enemy Minako." Rei pointed out with a deadpan expression. Though even so, out of all of them, she had the worst habit of dating a guy that later turned out to be a monster…or some other enemy to beat up.

"And we're usually too busy trying to stay alive to notice their looks." Kino Makoto added, the senshi of Jupiter leaning with her back against the wall, her arms crossed in thought, though she would admit that some of the enemies they met HAd been pretty 'sempai-ish'.

"Rei's nightmare aside," Usagi muttered, ignoring her friends insistence that 'it wasn't a nightmare odango-atama!' as she turned a deadpan glare to her advisor "What'd you call us here for Luna…and why didn't you tell me about the test today!"

"Had you been studying for it like you were supposed to for the last week you wouldn't have forgotten about it." Luna shot back primly, not looking up from grooming herself, much to the amusement of the other senshi "and as for the reason I called you all here…I ran into another Mau last night."

The senshi gasped, looking at the advisor with wide eyes, Ami clapping her hands over her mouth in shock. For the longest time Luna and Artemis had been believed to be the only two Mau since the great fall…the fact there might be more magical talking cats out there was quite a shock. "Are you sure Luna?" Ami asked, looking the advisor over with concerned eyes "I mean…it could be an enemy trap…"

"I'd considered that," Luna admitted, not putting much stock by Pluto's assurances, woman's intuition telling her to be ready for anything "But no self respecting Youma would willingly take on the form of a Mau…not only would the difference in mass prove unstable, but they'd be virtually defenseless against larger foes."

"But what about your old boyfriend?" Usagi asked teasingly, earning a shocked look from the advisor and the senshi as she pointed up to a thought bubble, in which was visible the rotund face of the feline crystal carrier, Rhett Butler "You know…old marshmallow tubs?"

"Oooooh Luna!" Minako teased, covering her mouth slyly as she winked at the sputtering advisor conspiratorially "And here I figured Artemis would be the first to get wandering eyes...you wild girl you!"

"He was NOT my boyfriend!" Luna insisted, her glare causing Usagi to avert her eyes fearfully, for fear of being set on fire "And he was a REINCARNATED Youma, much like you were all reincarnated by Queen Serenity."

The girls fell silent, recalling their previous death…hell their CURRENT deaths, with less than fond memory. At least Usagi had managed to use the Ginzuishou to bring them back in their current bodies, rather than thousands of years into the future as her former mother had.

"In any case," Luna continued with a cough, letting the somber mood permeate a bit as she gathered her wits and composure once again "he seems to be a bit addled, but he's trying to figure out how to access his human form."

"Wait! You guys can transform?!" Usagi yelped, imagining a half-Neko, half queen beryl creature stalking her through the streets to make sure she wasn't skipping out on lessons. It was a terrifying prospect.

"Not as we are now." Luna pointed out, shooting her ward a decidedly pointed deadpan glare "And we won't be able to unless Usagi ascends, thus granting us our full magical birthright from the serenity line."

While the scouts let that thought sink in, Minako idly wondering what her own advisor looked like, and how she could use it to her advantage, Usagi was thinking about how best to avoid practicing with the Ginzuishou, not needing Luna following her around any more than she already was. It was at that moment that Artemis stumbled in, looking completely exhausted.

"Artemis!" Luna exclaimed, looking her friend and future consort over in concern, noting his completely haggard expression and ruffled fur, clear signs of having gotten into some sort of fight or worse "What on earth happened to you?"

"Ran…into a pack of strays…on the way to Minako's…" Artemis gasped, shooting his ward a glare between pants for air, clearly blaming her for not being there to ward them off "They were…waiting for me…on the way back."

"Oh my…" Luna muttered, fighting to keep herself from laughing at her consort's predicament. 'Well at least now I know it's the same for him.' she reasoned, watching as Minako attempted to sooth her advisor's nerves and temperament "In any case, that Mau said he'd be coming round here some time today."

"You bumped into that pink furred Mau too?" Artemis wondered, looking over at his companion in surprise, idly wondering if he was about to get in trouble, only to blink at the look of confusion on her face.

"Pink?" Luna repeated, blinking at the ludicrous suggestion, what self-respecting male Mau had pink fur after all, "No, the Mau I met was black with a red mane." He eyes widened along with Artemis' "Are you saying you met another?"

"Yeah," Artemis admitted, pretending to ignore Minako's strokes, letting her stew for a bit longer "I bumped into him while making my way to Minako's, he was fighting off the gang of strays I told you about." He preened, "Naturally I leant a hand, but wasn't I shocked when I turned out saving a fellow Mau…though he seems to have no idea what a Mau is."

"Poor thing must have amnesia!" Ami gasped, placing a hand to her lips in sympathy for this mysterious Mau, "I mean, Luna and Artemis' memories haven't been 100% since they woke up right? What if his was completely wiped?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

While the senshi muttered anxiously amongst themselves, Luna and Artemis shared a covert look, te two apparently thinking along the same lines.

Serenity's magic might have been limited by the end of the war, the monarch using her very life force to power the gem enough to send her daughter, the fallen senshi and Endymion into the future, but Luna and Artemis had survived the fall, Serenity merely encasing them in special, magical domes, leaving them in the care of the sole surviving Senshi, Pluto.

Or at least, that was what they had learned later, something the two of them found highly suspicious. Just why had Pluto concealed herself from their memories, let alone not sent them DIRECTLY to Usagi to alert her of her destiny? And why wait so many years? Artemis had been sent in first to awaken Venus, and a good job he had if the tales of her time as Sailor V could be believed, but even so the white Mau had no memory of Usagi outside of a need to find her and protect her at once.

'And as if that weren't enough, she's got the outer senshi at her back as well.' Luna muttered, placing a paw on he chin 'Those two were trouble enough when we first met them…and they STILL refuse to cooperate with us fully.'

"Okaa-sama!" a bright cheerful voice piped up, Luna blinking as the sliding door opened to admit Diana, sitting atop Chibi-Usa's head, both of them pouting furiously at their respective mothers "Why didn't you tell us there was a Senshi meeting!"

"Yeah! I'm a senshi too you know!" Chibi-Usa insisted, the futureprincess of Silver Tokyo placing her hands on her hips as she stood firm against their shocked looks "You guys always leave us out!"

"That's because we don't want you getting hurt, Usa-chan." Minako offered diplomatically, before Usagi could put her foot in her mouth, which would have started a fight that could have thrashed Rei's room, and she had no desire to see Rei hurling blazing o-fuda at their leader just now. There was always later though.

"Anyway! Big news!" Chibi-Usa called out, plunking herself next to Ami, shooting her future mother a rasberry, which was childishly returned, before turning back to the group "The Outers have taken in Hotaru!"

"Say WHAT?!" Makoto gaped, which pretty much summed up the reactions of the inner senshi as a whole. The last time they'd checked, the outers had been trying to blast poor Hotaru to kingdom come to prevent her awakening as the messiah of silence. Since when did you go from attempted murderers to loving parents? Wasn't it usually the other way round?

"That's what I thought!" Chibi-Usa agreed, nodding her head empathetically at their confusion "But Hotaru-chan seems fine, and she doesn't remember being Mistress-9 or Saturn, so I didn't say anything."

"So we got two new Mau running around beating up strays and the Outers deciding to try and play House with a girl they tried to kill not even a few months ago." Rei muttered, rubbing her head as she felt the beginnings of a migraine she normally associated with Usagi or Chibi-Usa start up, shooting a look towards the resident advisors "You two know about this?"

"I heard about it from the pink one." Artemis admitted when Luna shook her head, "He said he and the other guy saw Pluto teleport away from the hospital and followed the cab she sent Hotaru off in to the Outer's house."

"They found the house?" Ami exclaimed, her eyes widening in surprise. Ever since the Outers had vanished, she'd been pushing the Mercury computer to its limits trying to locate their specific energy signatures. But it seemed they valued their privacy, for every time she tried all she got back was the little palm-held's equivalent of the blue screen of death.

"So if we can follow them back to their base if they decided to go renegade again!" Makoto reasoned, punching her fist into her palm with a grin. She never did like the Outers' superior attitudes, or the looks Uranus kept shooting them occasionally, and like the idea of taking the fight to them for once.

"Let's hold off on that until we have a better understanding of the situation." Artemis muttered, trying to ward off a Senshi bloodbath for as long as possible "In any case, we need to discuss what to do about these new Mau."

"Rei-chan?" a voice called out, the girls clamming up as Rei's grandfather stuck his head into the room, a smile on his face that they didn't buy one bit "You've got a visitor." He explained pushing the door aside to reveal a nervous looking Tomoe Hotaru.

"G-good evening." The shy girl offered, bowing slightly at the utterly gob-smacked faces of the older girls, Chibi-Usa letting out a cheer of surprise "T-Tomoe Hotaru-desu…Yoroshku…"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gouki prowled outside the Hino temple, shivering slightly from the purifying aura that washed over him. It did the soul good to see that even in this age of technology, there were still those that stuck to the old teachings. Had that barrier he'd felt passing through the gates been any stronger it MIGHT have even tickled.

As it were, however, the Master of Fists was just glad to have found the damn place, and was currently fixing it within his mental map of the area, using Hotaru's guardian's house as a starting point, so that the next time he wouldn't waste half the day looking for it.

'Why humans feel the need to box themselves in like swine I shall never understand.' He muttered in disgust, before tilting his head towards the main shrine, where he detected several energy signatures.

One was obviously that of the old codger of a priest that kept looking around, no doubt detecting traces of Gouki's ki in the air. The Master of Fists took great amusement in watching the man scurry about waving prayer beads and wreaths to 'exorcise the evil spirits'. Still, for a city priest he had some serious power, those wards he was hurling around felt like they could actually BURN.

The largest, and most unusual energy signatures was coming from the main house, which Gouki suspected to be these…Sailor Senshi, the talking cat had mentioned. He shivered, detecting virtually no Ki to speak of in their bodies, though the sheer amount of magical energy he could sense residing in each of them was staggering. Still, it seemed as if the power was being suppressed somehow, and even from here he could feel the wellspring of that power slowly degrading from lack of use.

Like ki, one's magical reserves tended to grow with prolonged use. If one exhausted their supply of Ki, the body adapted, sometimes doubling the reserves so that you had more to sling around upon recovery. The same held true for magic, every spell, every transformation, and every ritual that drained the user's magical core substantially led to that store of power increasing as it refilled.

'Clearly they have only seen fit to use their abilities when directly challenged.' He noted, scowling as he read their ki lines, finding only three with any hint of training in the art of some kind, and pittling at that 'Not once have they actively thought to practice their abilities, or deepen their skills.'

That ended NOW. His disdain for slackers and procrastinators aside, the sooner this 'Sailor Moon' character got her ass in gear, the sooner Gouki could ditch the fur coat and regain his true form…and the buffoon as well, he supposed.

However, just as he was about to approach the main building, two other ki signatures, laced with magic, launched themselves at him from on high, cawing and screeching at the intruder.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hotaru-chan!" Chibi-Usa greeted, beaming at her friend as she patted the cushion next to her and Ami, Hotaru sinking onto it with a nervous smile as the pinkette looked up at her excitedly "What are you doing here?"

"W-well…" Hotaru explained, feeling a bit put on the spot, especially with the looks the older girls in the room were giving her as she placed her backpack on her knees "H-Hibiki-san said that we needed to come here…"

"For the last time!" a loud voice called out, startling the group as Hotaru's backpack began to kick and shake about angrily, as if something were fighting to escape from inside of it "Call me Dan-sensei!"

"What on earth?" Ami exclaimed, looking at the bag in alarm as Hotaru gasped, reaching down to unzip it, the groups eyes widening as a pink furred cat with brown ears stuck its head out of the container.

"Mataku, Hotaru-chan…" the Neko muttered, looking up at the girl with a quirked eyebrow "How many times I gotta remind you before you…" he trailed off as he realized they had an audience "…yo?"

"KAWAII!!!" came the majority vote as Usagi, Minako and Makoto fell on the startled Neko, pulling him from the bag and petting him over furiously, much to the shock and alarm of everyone else, especially the terrified Dan.

"He's so cute!" Usagi gushed, rubbing her face into Dan' fur, heedless of the Mau's yelps of discomfort and pleas for her to stop, giggling as it tickled her nose "Even Luna wasn't this cute when I first found her!"

"His voice's just like my sempai's!" Makoto agreed as Luna sputtered indignantly, the brunette tickling the struggling Neko under the chin, causing Dan's tail to wag, much to his discomfort and detriment.

"OI! Lemme go!" the neko-fied Saikyo-ryu master demanded, struggling to escape their attentions, though a part of him wondered why he was even bothering, only to freeze and swat at Minako's questing hands as she lifted his leg "YOU MIND?!"

"He really is a guy!" the senshi of Venus giggled, earning shrieks of scandalized glee from her fellow molesters as she winked at her mortified advisor cheekily "And I think you might have competition Artemis!"

"ARTEMIS?!" Luna gasped, rounding on her consort, her face a mask of mortification at what Venus was implying, to which Artemis merely responded, panic-stricken, that he had no clue what she was talking about, as usual.

"More talking Neko…" Hotaru stammered, looking between the bickering advisors and her struggling friend, a slight daze washing over her as she tried to fit it all together "Does that mean…are these girls magic users too?"

"Well…I suppose so?" Ami offered weakly, trying to resist the urge to break up the ruckus, since she was likely to be ignored anyways. Once Minako got things started it was like a rolling stone...and she secretly wanted to glomp the pink Neko as well.

"STOP TOUCHING MEEEEEEE!!!!!!" Dan screamed to the heavens, tears streaming down his face as he was manhandled (or was it GIRL-handled?) by the ecstatic senshi, despite his fervent protests "DASKETE! OYAJIIIII-!!!!!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And I think we'll just leave Dan there for now!

Dan: NOOOO!!!!!

Halibel: You're Evil.

Kyugan: I know~!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Omake: Pretty Shotokan Fighter Hotaru V!

"Gouki-san...is something wrong?" Hotaru asked, looking over at the more violent of her advisors as she sat at the icecream parlor, putting away a giant sundae with hot fudge and whipped cream.

"I am the master of fists..." the red maned neko growled, glaring up at the girl, albiet half-heartedly "And yet here I am, reduced to nothing more than a common house pet...if Goutetsu sensei could see me now..."

"Awe it's not so bad!" Dan chuckled dismissively, the pink neko chugging away at a vanilla smoothie, his eyes little upside down 'U's as he put the treat that was at least twice his height away eagerly "We get free treats!"

"A warrior has no need for treats." the maned neko growled, glaring beadily at the buffoon as he watched the pink neko make a pig out of himself "Not that I'd expect a glutton like you to understand my torment."

"Awe...sounds like someone needs a belly rub!" Hotaru giggled, rolling the startled neko over and promplty running her fingers over the dark fur of his tummy in a soothing, albeit ticklish fashion.

"Wench! Unhand me!" Gouki snarled, his claws and teeth bared as he kicked helplessly at the air, only to slowly calm down as the minsitrations reached him "That's...no...more to the right...NO! I...WILL...NOT...SUBMIPRRRRRRRRRRR..."

"Belly rubs 1, Gouki Zippo." Dan noted with a cheeky grin as Gouki's deep purrs actually caused the tableto shake, even as Hotaru proceeded to scratch him behind the ears, eliciting a gentler purr from the pink Neko "Mmmm...yoyusuuu..."

R&R for more neko action!

* * *


	10. Chapter 10

So Dan, how does it feel to be pampered?

Dan: Never...be...clean...again...

Halibel: Pussy.

Hotaru: And a cute one at that!

Dan:...TToTT...

* * *

Round 10.

By the time the scouts could be convinced to release the traumatized Dan, the pink Neko squatting between a sympathetic Artemis and an appalled Luna, the dark purple advisor giving the embarrassed inners a thorough tongue lashing for their actions, and hour had flown by, evident by the chiming of Rei's clock, and her grandfather yelling at her to come earn her keep, albeit in a good-natured manner.

The priestess stood up, mumbling something about seeing to chores, Usagi calling out for her to bring back snacks, earning a glare from raven-haired teen as she shut the shogi door behind her with a snap.

"Well then…" Luna sighed, turning to address the oddly coloured Mau as he cowered next to her consort, looking for all the world like an adult version of Diana…only obviously male "Dan was it? Could you care to explain where you and Gouki have been all this time?"

"Well…when we woke up in the alley we were pretty messed up." Dan admitted, rubbing the back of his head, looking absolutely adorable to the Inners without intending to "I mean, last I checked we were at the World Warrior Tournament in Osaka," Makoto sat up straight at that "and it wasn't until I smelled the Okonomiyaki stand that I figured out we were in Juuban."

'His sense of smell is better than his sense of direction?' the advisors, and the majority of the inners, wondered, beads of sweat sliding down their heads. The sole exception, Usagi merely started to drool at the mention of Okonomiyaki, wondering if she could stop by the stand that had opened up not far from here, the cute chef that ran it sure knew his way around a grill.

"Anyways," Dan continued, shaking his head to clear the cobwebs "After wandering around for a bit we bumped into Hotaru-chan here." He nodded at the girl, who blushed and looked away shyly from the Inners' stares "And after saving her from a taxi, we followed her to the hospital where we saw that Setsuna woman teleport."

"Wait…saved her from a what?" Ami stammered, blinking in confusion as she checked the pink Mau over with her computer. So far he didn't appear to be lying, and the scans definitely matched his DNA as Mau. But a Taxi?

"I had a small attack while crossing the street." Hotaru admitted, earning a look of concern from Chibi-Usa, only to smile at the girl reassuringly "a taxi was heading towards me, but Hibiki-san and Gouki-san kicked it out of the way and saved me."

'KICKED?!' was the group's thought on the matter, turning bulging eyes towards the pink Neko that was, once again, telling Hotaru off for not addressing him as 'sensei'. With his bubblegum pink fur and hyperactive manner, not to mention he wasn't much bigger than Artemis and Luna, they just couldn't see him doing anything to a taxi, other than adorning the grill as it ran him over.

"Anyways," Dan muttered, having reminded Hotaru once again of his title, "Gouki and I followed her taxi back to this house with two hot chicks in it." He missed Luna's disapproving glare at the words, though Artemis cocked an eyebrow coyly "Some blonde chick that dresses like a man and a hottie with blue-green hair."

"Uranus and Neptune!" Ami gasped, clasping a hand to her mouth in shock as she looked between the Mau and Hotaru, who was blinking at her in confusion. 'Well at least the rumors are true.' She deduced, shooting the group covert looks to keep them quiet 'But if Hotaru-chan's memories were sealed away,' she realized, looking warily at the reincarnated senshi of silence 'we have to keep from talking about Mistress 9 or pharaoh 90!'

"Who?" Dan wondered, looking at the blue haired senshi in confusion, his brow furrowed in thought, "Naw, their names were Haruka and Michiru…weren't they, Hotaru-chan?"

"Haruka-papa and Michiru-mama." Hotaru agreed with a nod, earning a bemused look from Minako, a light blush from Ami and Makoto, and a confused blink apiece from the Usagis, present and future "and Setsuna-mama too."

"PLUTO too?!" Makoto hissed in surprise, the tall brunette looking over at Minako and Ami in suspicion. The three senshi wisely decided amongst themselves to avoid spilling any more beans if they could help it in front of Hotaru, even though it seemed she was already involved in it up to her elbows. After all, it wouldn't pay to jump to conclusions where the outers were concerned, stuck up snobs they may be, but they were still Senshi.

"Whoa…so Setsuna-san was into that?" Usagi wondered, a light blush on her cheeks as she held a finger to her lips "Well I suppose she has been alone a long time…"

"Get your mind out of the gutter!" Rei snapped, startling her leader and friend by dumping several bags of chips on her head as she closed the door behind her, having overheard the conversation from outside "Anyways," she muttered, shooting Dan a suspicious look as she reclaimed her seat "bad sense of direction aside, why didn't you contact us sooner?"

"Should I have?" Dan muttered, taking offence at the, admittedly pretty, raven haired priestess' attitude "Gouki and I only followed Hotaru-chan back to her place because he figured we could ask this Setsuna woman to change us back…her being a magic user and all."

"But Setsuna doesn't have the power to change a Mau's form." Artemis insisted, looking over at the pink Mau in confusion "Only Usagi can do that, and she's a long way from mastering her powers still."

"Aw man!" Dan groaned, slumping down in dejection, somehow managing to look absolutely adorable as he did so "You mean I'm stuck like this? How long will it take her to master the spell?"

"It isn't really a spell…" Luna countered, a little disturbed by Dan's antics "But if Usagi diligently goes about mastering her abilities," the advisors and scouts, sans Hotaru, shot the nervous princess a deadpan look "she SHOULD, hypothetically, come into her abilities once she comes of age…mid-twenties to early thirties being my most optimistic bet."

Dan looked at the purple feline, letting her information sink in, before turning to look at the one who held his fate in her grubby, crumb laden hands, as she shoveled chips into her mouth by the handful, before promptly clapping his paws to his face, tears streaming down his cheeks as he howled. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! OYAJIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!"

The Inners, honestly, couldn't find it in them to feel insulted, hell they actually felt for the pink Neko, Luna and Artemis especially. And Usagi, the source of the grief, was too focused on devouring the snacks to care, earning a disgusted look from her future daughter and a confused look from Hotaru, who was stroking her friend/sensei's fur comfortingly.

Though all of them soon went on instant alert as an explosion rocked the room, Rei screaming as part of her roof fell in.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"SHAKUNETSU!"

A blazing fireball launched itself into the air, the intended targets rolling out of the path before hurling themselves at the source, their talons outstretched and their beaks wide as they crowed their anger at the crouching feline on the roof of their mistress' home.

Gouki had to admit, as he leapt out of the path of yet another aerial assault, these familiars, for there was no way in hell they were normal birds, were quite a challenge in his current body. They were obviously gifted with intelligence, and were purposefully watching out for his projectile attacks, flying high out of reach to avoid his claws, diving in with impressive speed to deliver glancing blows that, were he a normal feline, would have knocked him from the roof.

But Gouki was the Master of Fists, scourge of all forms of martial art, with a lifetime's experience of fighting stronger opponent's than this, and so, even in his diminished form, it was simply a small matter of timing to avoid their strikes, slashing out at them in passing, trailing his claws along their bodies to ward them off, grinning as they crowed at him in retaliation.

"Not bad for a couple of flea-bitten carrion cravers." He called out, smirking at the crows as they came around for another pass, having learned they clearly understood human speech from the way his insults got a rise out of them "But you've delayed me long enough…" he muttered, crouching low and allowing his murderous intent to flare around him like a corona "KAKUGOU!"

He leapt straight at one of the birds, startling it mid-lunge and delivering a fierce paw-strike to the side of its face, knocking it boneless towards the roof, one wing bent at a painful angle from it's body. The second one tried to attack him in Mid-air, crowing angrily at him, the black eyes filled with vengeance, only for Gouki to spin, his body contorting like a wrung towel, allowing the maned Neko to flip over the attack, his fangs latching onto the joint of the familiar's wing, dragging it down to the courtyard amidst a series of squawks and flying feathers.

"Phobos!" a concerned voice cried out, Gouki looking up to espy one of the more developed signatures from earlier, a fetching, raven-haired teen in a Shinto priestess uniform, standing in the doorway, gaping at them in alarm. "Why you no good-!" she yelled, brandishing a broom from out of nowhere and rushing towards him, the cleaning apparatus held above her head, clearly intending to sweep him off her familiar.

Gouki, with near laughable ease, snorted at the girl's audacity, before swiping his paw once, the head of the broom falling off with a clatter before the stunned priestess even began to swing it. Said priestess, upon realization of the fact, stood there gaping at it in shock as Gouki released the squawking Crow, holding it under his paw with a growl.

"Your familiars are poorly trained, girl." He chastised, smirking as the girl, and the group gathered behind her, gaped at him in shock "Were I an enemy, they'd be kibble about now."

"Another Mau?" a blue haired girl with an air of a bookworm about her exclaimed, looking towards Gouki in awe as she typed away on some hand-held gizmo "No doubt about it! His DNA matches the basic Mau profile in the Mercury Computer's database!"

"Gouki!" a familiar voice called out, Luna stepping to the fore with a shocked expression on her face as everyone turned their attention to the purple advisor to Usagi "What on earth are you doing?!"

"This…creature and its partner assaulted me on the roof." The feline master of fists muttered, nodding up at the roof, where Deimos was standing blearily at the edge, one wing broken from the fall "I was merely putting them in their place."

"But they're Mars' familiars!" Luna insisted, looking absolutely scandalized by the larger Mau's crass attitude, and even larger disregard for lives other than his own "You could have killed them!"

"So?" Gouki replied, the look in his eyes causing the group, as a whole to shiver "The strong live, the weak die." He pressed his paw on Phobos' neck, the bird's struggling intensifying "That is the law of Nature."

"Gouki-san!"

Gouki blinked, looking up in surprise to see Hotaru looking at him with fear in her purple eyes, her face desperate as she pushed past a shocked Ami "Don't hurt him! please!"

"You heard her ya mook!" Dan yelled out, running to the fore and imposing himself between Hotaru and Gouki, his eyes wide with anger "Where'd d'ya get off threatening those weaker than you? Is that how the so called 'Master of Fists' behaves?!"

Gouki glared at the pink Neko, wondering how on earth he'd managed to get here before him and sorely tempted to backhand the buffoon for DARING to question his integrity, only to look over at the distraught Hotaru and pausing at her tears.

For some reason, despite all his years as master of Ansatsuken screaming at him to finish the familiar off, the sight of the formerly sickly child's purple eyes looking at him with anguish caused him to hesitate, holding her gaze for a few precious seconds, before releasing the struggling bird and looking away with a snort.

"He's not worth it." he muttered, watching as the priestess scooped up her injured familiar and held him close, uttering soothing words to calm the beast. Snorting again, the maned Neko walked past the silent form of Dan, swatting the buffoon's nose with his tail in passing, before walking up to the main temple, leaping up onto the walkway before glaring over his shoulder at the gaping females "Well? What are you waiting for?!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rei sighed as she tied off the last of the bandages, tucking Phobos and Deimos into a nest, wrapped in a warm cloth, to allow them time to heal. The senshi of fire had never seen them hurt this badly, as they'd always managed to distract their opponent's long enough for Rei to come and finish them off. Even Luna and Artemis had had a hard time getting around the crows if they were feeling in the mood for a game of keep away.

And it didn't help that her grandfather was running around the shrine like his robes were on fire, chanting about evil spirits and generally making a pest of himself, plastering wards and talismans everywhere to drive said spirits off.

Everywhere, including on her friends' backsides and breasts, which earned the old man the mother of all beat-downs from the outraged senshi, leaving him bound up like an O-fuda mummy in his room, more specifically in his closet.

Sighing at the antics of her only living relative, the Senshi of fire turned around and made her way back to her room, slipping in and shutting the door behind her, before joining her fellows in a rough semicircle before the maned Mau from earlier, attempting to drill a hole into the culprit with her glare, only for him to look her way, scoff, and promptly turn back to the others, non-plussed.

"If we're done dealing with the pets?" he muttered, smirking as Reis glare intensified, clearly not thinking much of her ability to punish him "I'm certain that…Luna, was it?" he continued at her nod "has informed you about me?"

"You're Gouki…right?" Artemis noted, shivering as the larger Mau regarded him with his crimson stare. He'd never seen a Mau this feral looking before, it was like someone had shrunk a Lion down and painted it red and black.

"I bumped into Luna last night." The maned Mau informed the assembled Senshi, running his blazing eyes over them like a general overlooking the new recruits, and not liking what he saw at all "She explained to me that one of you…this 'Sailor Moon' or whatever you call yourself, has an artifact that will, upon mastering, allow myself and the buffoon here" he gestured towards Dan with his tail "To return to our normal forms."

"Stop calling me a buffoon dammit!" Dan snapped at the maned Neko from his spot in Hotaru's lap, only to grumble as he was ignored, Hotaru petting him to clam him down.

"However…" Gouki continued, ignoring Dan's outburst, and the pink Neko altogether really, and pressing on "From what she has told me, you wont fully awaken to your abilities until something called 'The Big Freeze', which would be the second coming of the ice age."

"SAY WHAT?!" Dan yelped, gaping at the maned Neko in alarm as Hotaru clapped a hand over her mouth "What the hell!? When's that supposed to happen?!"

"Some time during the next thirty years." Gouki replied, some of the scouts flinching at the reminder of just how short their everyday lives would actually be "I however believe that if they can access their full potential sooner, we can avert the catastrophe."

"Wait what?" Ami queried, looking at the maned Neko in surprise, a look shared by many of the scouts, including a skeptical Rei and nervous Usagi "What makes you assume that?"

"And why would we want to?" Rei shot back with a huff, shooting the one who hurt her familiars a glare "Crystal Tokyo is our goal right? Well once Odango Atama ascends she can just fix everything and that'll be that."

"At the cost of over 90% of the earth's population?" Gouki deadpanned, wiping the smug look from the senshi of fire's face, and causing the group, as a whole, to shiver, wondering how on earth they could forget such a thing "Oh yes, a perfect Winter Wonderland Utopia…who WOULDN'T want to rule over a barren block of ice?"

"It wasn't that bad…" Ami muttered, only to trail off mid-sentence, recalling their brief sojourn to the future to defeat prince Demand and Wiseman. She remembered the biting cold of the air, how everything seemed to be covered in crystalline ice. At first she'd thought the Dark Moon clan had been behind it, but now, in hindsight, she wondered just how the 'Big Freeze' had come to pass, or why Neo Queen Serenity hadn't done something sooner to stop it.

"As such." Gouki cut in, startling the group as he leveled a glare at them that caused them to huddle together in fear, despite the fact he was no higher than their ankles, "I shall PERSONALLY see to it that you all start training yourselves properly, I will not stand by and allow the earth to become an ice cube just so you can laze around, dreaming about crushes or whatever it is you've been doing this past while."

"But I don't wanna!" Usagi bawled, absolutely terrified by the look in Gouki's eyes and cuddling close to Rei, who didn't appreciate the fact the blonde's struggles were pulling down her Uwagi revealingly "Luna! Tell him we don't want to!"

"I'm afraid I have to side with Gouki on this one." The advisor shot back with a sigh, earning a look of betrayal from her charge "The sooner you awaken your true abilities the better for all of us, and if we can avert the great freeze doing so…"

The girls fell silent, Usagi's sniffles ceasing somewhat as she saw the reasoning behind her advisor's lack of support. True, the dream of Crystal Tokyo had been a driving force for them all, but the fact that billions of lives had to die to make it kind of tainted the image. "There's no saying Crystal Tokyo won't come to pass if we don't train ourselves." Ami reasoned optimistically, holding up a finger for emphasis "Why, it may even come about sooner as a result!"

"And Chibi-Usa's still here." Minako noted, nodding towards the pink haired princess for emphasis, earning a look of confusion from the girl "If Crystal Tokyo ceased to exist, then so would she!"

"Then it's settled." Gouki cut in, glaring at them all as he leapt off the cushion he'd been perched on and padded towards the shogi door "Meet me outside when you're ready…I wish to test your abilities."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Uh oh…" Dan muttered, suddenly looking apprehensive as he watched the maned Mau saunter off, his ears flat on his skull "That doesn't sound good no matter how I look at it."

"Hibiki-san?" Hotaru queried, looking down at the trembling pink Neko in concern as he shivered like he'd fallen in a tub of ice water "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine…" Dan assured the girl, to shaken by what he knew was to come to correct her for not referring to him as sensei, "It's just…I've fought with Gouki before remember? He ain't the type that believes in pulling punches."

"Pft? What's the worse he can do?" Usagi scoffed, filled with false confidence at the fact that Luna and Artemis, while a wealth of information, were next to useless in a fight against anything bigger than mice…and even those gave them trouble at times "Claw our skirts?"

BOOM!

The scouts balked, racing outside once again to gape at the sight of Gouki glaring spitfire at a smoldering lump in a singed, battered, priest robe, upper face covered by an unruly mop of hair. "Yuichiro!" Rei gasped, gaping at the sight of the shaggy-haired musician that had taken up lodging at the shrine, and her grandfather's unwitting apprentice in the making. The man looked like he'd been hit head on by her Fire Soul, his eyes swirling dazedly beneath his hair and a dazed grin on his face as he lay in a twitching smoking heap on the floor.

"Insolent whelp." Gouki grumbled, glaring at the bum in annoyance as he padded past him, tail twitching irritably "'Here Kitty-Kitty' my top-knot!" he snorted, flicking dirt onto the man's cooling face with his hind paw "Know your place, fool."

The scouts blinked, looking from Rei's flash-fried, wannabe suitor to their violent, apparently future trainer, and swallowed as one.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Setsuna awoke with a stiff yawn, stretching the kinks out of her body as she rose from her bed. Odd nightmares aside, the senshi of time was feeling rather rejuvenated by her nap, walking down the steps to find Haruka and Michiru sitting in the kitchen, the former sipping coffee, the latter apparently cooking.

"Good evening." She greeted, smiling serenely at the lovers as she entered the kitchen, only blink as Haruka looked up and promptly spewed coffee across the kitchen, Michiru turning round to gape at her in alarm "What?"

"Holy shit that's good stuff." Haruka choked, looking back at her coffee mug in approval, before turning to leer at Setsuna "Or did the hotshot Senshi of time finally decided to relax a little more?"

Pluto was about to question what on earth the nymphomaniac was on about when she felt a distinct chill in the air, looking down to find she was currently garbed in her birthday suit, and little else.

"So you're the commando type huh?" Haruka chuckled, quirking an eyebrow at the mortified senshi as she took in the sight before her eagerly. After all, when else would she be able to enjoy such a show when Pluto was usually off managing the timeline?

"Haruka…" Michiru chided, though she did cast the odd appreciative glance at Setsuna's shapely figure. Simply because she wasn't always raring to go didn't mean she couldn't appreciate a good show.

"Excuse me!" Setsuna uttered, a little less firmly than she would have liked, before promptly teleporting back to her room, staring in confusion at the shredded remains of the nightdress she could've sworn she'd been wearing the night before. 'Damn nightmares…' the green haired senshi muttered, summoning her garnet rod, instantly decked out in her senshi uniform as world distorted around her, bringing her once again to the time gates.

"I think a little correction is in order.' She muttered, stepping towards the gates with a purposeful frown as she focused on the moment she was about to leave her room. After all, she had an image to maintain, and Haruka's tongue tended to wag at certain times.

However, such thoughts were soon brought to an abrupt, screeching halt as she pulled up short in front of her precious time gates, her eyes widening in horror as the garnet rod dropped from nerveless fingers.

The time gates stood still, tall and imposing as the first day she'd laid eyes on them, their marble doors as untouched by time as she was, and would likely remain that way after she finally surrendered to the cosmic dust, just as she had left them last night.

But unlike last night, where they had presented her with a swirling vortex of timelines from which to choose from, as was their duty, the marble doors of the gates were closed, and despite all her urgings, all her commanding, all her pleading, they would not respond to her voice, nor her magic.

The Gates of Time were sealed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DUN-DUN-DUUUUUN!!!!

Now there's a situation that nobody saw coming! Let's see how Setsuna tries to manipulate events WITHOUT her Deus Ex Machina device.

That said, omake time!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pretty Shotokan Fighter Hotaru VI!

"DOSEI KIIIICK!"

Yet another monster fell as Justice Fighter Dosei delivered a punishing screw kick (Cammy's cannon thrust) to the chest, promptly drilling through it and reducing the youma to stardust, earning a cheer from the crowd as she landed on her feet.

However, despite the cheers, Dosei's face bore a complex expression as she looked over the dust with a hint of...disappointment, on her face, her gloved hands clenching tightly before she leapt into the air and away, just as the Senshi finally showed up.

"Worry not citizens!" Sailor Moon cried out, going through an intricate series of poses before a starry background "Your beloved heroes are here to save-!"

"Oh, Dosei-chan already took care of the monster." A random cameraman pointed out, the Senshi stumbling at his words, before gaping at him in exasperated disbelief "Yeah, she turned up, like, ten minutes ago and laid the smack down. she just left actually."

"AGAIN!" Mars snarled, the red-clad senshi actually ripping out her precious ebony hair in frustration "That purple cld skank beat us to the action AGAIN! How does she keep doing that?!"

"It does seem rather unusual that she get's here so fast..." Mercury noted with a frown "I mean we WERE on the otherside of town when we detected the monster, but what are the odds of her being here to sort it out?"

"Maybe she patrols the area full time?" Jupiter reasoned, holding up a finger for emphasis "I mean, there haven't been any new transfer students at any of the schools, and she looks about our age."

Sailor Moon, of course, was not paying attention to the conversation, as she was too busy trying to ward off a hoard of gushing otaku, using her Moon Sceptre as in impromptu club if they got too touchy feely.

"Hey! Dosei-chan's on TV!" Someone shouted from the sidelines, the senshi whipping round to find a group of onlookers lined up outside a TV store window, which was displaying a live news report.

_"Tell us, Justice Fighter Dosei," the reporter, who apparently had led his crew onto the roof of a skyscraper in the window washers rig to question the woman "Where did you come from? Why do you fight Youma?"_

_"Where ever there is injustice, I will be there to set it right!" Dosei replied, clenching her fist before her, unintentionally causing her breasts to bounce under her purple leotard "As for why I Fight, would you not do the same if you could?"_

_"Erm...not in THAt outfit I wouldn't." the reporter chuckled, earning a brief laugh from the camera crew and Dosei herself, who patted the bespectacled man on the shoulder "So tell me, what is the hardest part of fighting Youma?"_

_"Nothing really..." Dosei sighed, holding a hand to her cheek, "Although...I know it's selfish, but I just wish the enemies were a little Stronger..." she sighed, heedless of their looks of amazement "it's so BORING to have to keep holding back..."_

"Holding...back...?" Mercury repeated, turning her head along with everyone else to gape the street behind them, which had been literally torn apart by the purple clad fighter's blows "Auuuuu..."

Several miles away, in a n all girl's dormitory run by an immortal Toudai aspirant, a little, blue-haired middle-schooler sneezed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you have any ideas for omake's, feel free to send them in!

R&R!!


	11. Chapter 11

Well now, it's time for Gouki to have a little fun.

Dan: (Priest Robes, kneeling in front of a shrine to the Inner Senshi) Namu...Amida...Butsu...

Usagi: (T0T) That's not nice!

Rei: (angry) GET THE HELL OUT OF THOSE SHRINE ROBES!!!!

Dan: Okay (Strips down)

Rei: (0///o\\\0) NOT IN HERE!!!!

Minako & Makoto: (Camera at ready) Smile for the Camera!

Dan: (Doing Muscle pose) YOYUSSUU!

Kyugan: What fools these mortals be...

Halibel: Teenagers...oi...

* * *

Round 11.

"How can this have happened?" Pluto fretted, pacing in front of the silent gates of time with a growing sense of panic "When did it happen? Why didn't I feel it happen? Why Didn't I predict this?!"

The woman's demands grew more and more insistent, even as she tried, fruitlessly, to open the giant marble doors by hand, only for it to prove as futile as when she'd first been sealed in with them millennia ago. And just as it had been millennia ago, the gates refused to acknowledge her, no matter how hard she ordered, threatened, pleaded and begged.

But unlike last time, when she'd been a mere stripling, a shaken princess who'd watched her friends die around her en masse, unable to do anything but observe, Pluto had her years of experience to guide her, to temper her will and strengthen her nerves.

Which is why she was currently trying to pry the damnable gates open with her garnet rod, rather than beating her hands bloody against them in a hysterical hissy fit.

"I HAVE to get them open again!" she insisted, straining as she put her whole body into levering the staff into a barely noticeable gap between the doors "Without the gates I am as blind as any mortal…and those recent irregularities to crystal Tokyo were growing more frequent by the second!"

Not that Pluto was powerless without the gates. Oh no, aside from Super Sailor Moon, she was undoubtedly the most powerful senshi on earth, and unlike the princess, she could access her full power at will, rather than waiting for her aura to align itself with her talisman. Amazing what having a millennia to train and prepare oneself could do, isn't it?

She grunted, eyes widening as she saw the telltale light of the time stream inside the crack, gritting her teeth in a manic grin as she doubled her efforts to pry the gates open, back straining as she leant further and further back.

There was a noise akin to a ruler reverberating on a desk, followed immediately by a decidedly un-lady-like curse, and Pluto was hurled across the chamber to land in an undignified heap against the far wall, her ass in the air, her fuku trailing over her face as she glared at the vibrating form of her garnet rod.

This was going to take a while…

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"MOON SPIRAL HEART ATTACK!" Sailor Moon cried out, sending her strongest attack right at Gouki, only to scream as the maned Neko leapt right into her face, kicking off it and knocking the blonde on her rump "Owie!"

"BURNING MANDALA!" Sailor Mars yelled, sending several fireballs rocketing towards the feline menace, only for one well-timed Shakunetsu to snuff them out, the girl rolling out of the way just in time to avoid being barbecued. Venus attempted to follow her comrades' attempts up with a 'Love Me Chain', but Gouki easily ducked under the restraining attack and delivered a glare that caused the girl to back off sheepishly.

Off to the side, Chibi-Usa and Hotaru were watching the battle in awe, the future daughter of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen wondering how on earth a Mau, an admittedly buff looking one, could take down the sailor senshi with apparently little difficulty. True they weren't using their super forms, this was merely a spar after all, but he had actually taken Jupiter's thunder Dragon head on, charging through it and somehow managing to throw the tall senshi with her own ponytail.

Hotaru, on the other hand, was marveling at the ability of her new friend/pet, though she knew better than to refer to the maned Neko as either. While she was quite certain that Dan and Gouki's story was true, a cat transforming into a naked man in your bedroom does wonders for your sense of belief, she had nonetheless wondered what they'd been like as humans. Martial artists were a strange, enigmatic group to a girl that had spent most of her life sheltered, in some shape or form, from harm as a result of her poor condition. Hopefully, with said condition apparently cleared up, the girl could look into her new friends' lives as more than just a casual observer.

"Mataku…" Dan muttered, watching as Gouki chased the senshi around the temple's backyard like something out of a Loony Toons sketch, Moon clinging desperately to Mars, who was carrying her leader bridal style, far too concerned with running the hell away to chastise the blonde "That guy has no clue how to go about teaching kids."

"They're not kids you know." Usa pointed out defensively "Even if Moon acts like one more often than not," she amended with embarrassment "they've all fought off really strong opponents ever since they awoke to their powers two years ago."

"And Gouki's been battling strong opponents since he could WALK." Dan muttered, earning a look of alarm from Hotaru "Or at least that's what the guy's always going on about. I mean I'm all for honing one's skills and all that, but this guy's a fanatic."

Usa blinked, only to look up as Venus ran past, the tail ends of her precious blonde hair smoking from a near miss with a Shakunetsu Hadouken, a terrified Mercury on her tail, as her ice attacks didn't mean squat to the fiery sphere of death currently chasing them down. "How long did he say this training thing was gonna last?"

"Till he got bored." Dan and Hotaru replied together, even as Moon's screams for 'Mamo-chan!' tore through the air, Mars having dumped her leader on the ground in order to better defend herself.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"WEAK!" Gouki barked, glaring down at the tangled mess that had once been the Sailor Senshi "You're so weak I'm surprised you've lasted as long as you have! I don't know what kind of foes you've been going up against, but clearly you haven't been taking things seriously!"

"Hey! We did our best!" Jupiter shot back, out of all of them she was the least winded, and was glaring stubbornly at the maned Neko, refusing to admit she'd been thrown like a rag doll by something that barely came over her ankles.

"Then your best wasn't good enough." Gouki muttered, leveling a glare at all the scouts, rather than just one "Out of all of you, the green one is the only one with any idea of self defense, just how on earth have you been fighting this long?"

"We usually just use our magic." Mercury replied helpfully, raising a hand politely in the air, as if she were addressing a teacher and not a homicidal maniac in the form of an admittedly handsome tomcat "Most of our foes are Youma or powered with dark energy, and our magic is specially tuned…"

"In other words you hurl a few spells and pray to whatever Kami that's listening that your target doesn't have the sense to DODGE?" Gouki growled, earning a startled 'meep!' from the bluenette, who promptly lowered her eyes and hid behind Jupiter for safety.

"HEY! We've been doing a good enough job on our own!" Mars snapped, unwilling to take smack from someone that had injured Phobos and Deimos "And is it our fault the idiot Youma don't think much outside of 'kill', 'fight', 'rape', 'drain energy'?!"

"And just what would you have done if you came up against an opponent that was IMMUNE to all forms of magical assault?" Gouki asked with fake sweetness, earning a startled look from the group "The gift might be rare, but there are more than enough people, and monsters, out there that possess it some shape or form."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Far away, at all girl's academy, a little redhead girl with her hair done up with little bells sneezed, causing her to mess up her picture of their homeroom teacher, which earned her the mockery of the class rep, a pretty little blonde that, for some reason, had lily buds blooming behind her.

Needless to say, the resulting catfight threw the whole lesson plan out of whack.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Yo, ease up man." Dan called out, padding over to the maned Neko with a disapproving look in his eyes "So they aren't the best fighters out there, hell now I think of it you don't see many magical girls throwing punches around." He smiled apologetically at the girls "But those attacks of theirs look like they pack quite a wallop if they managed to hit." He nodded at the damaged courtyard, which was littered with melting frost, scorched and cracked tiles and a few burning leaves.

"IF being the main issue here." Gouki muttered, shaking his head in disgust "Five on one and not one of them thought to gang up on me. I even limited myself to fighting on the ground, a REAL opponent wouldn't be so accommodating."

"So start 'em off with the basics." Dan insisted, nodding towards the senshi, who were slowly picking themselves off the ground, wincing as their backs popped audibly "I mean even I know that's how you build your strength."

"Feh," Gouki spat, glaring at the pink Neko in disgust, as he actually had a decent point for once "There's nothing like actual battle experience against stronger foes for forcing sluggards to develop or die."

"But these girls AREN'T martial artists." Dan pointed out "Hell if what Luna-san said was right, then their major enemies are already finished, all we gotta do is power 'em up before the ice-age rolls around." He smirked at the maned Neko "Can't do that if we put 'em in hospital."

"I agree with Hibiki-san!" Moon called out enthusiastically, her eyes large and filled with grateful sparkles as she eyed the pink savior with gratitude. She'd never liked fighting to begin with, and if there WAS an easier way to go about this training, as it seemed Luna and Artemis weren't backing down this time, she'd take it over having to dodge fireballs all day. She got enough of those whenever she annoyed Rei too much.

Gouki snorted, looking over the blonde leader of the senshi with disdain, causing her to use Mars as a shield, much to the raven-haired senshi's ire. "Do as you will." Gouki muttered, turning his back on them with a flick of his tail "But as soon as they've grasped the 'basics', as you put it, I won't have you interfering in my handling again."

"Yes sir!" Dan replied mockingly, pulling off a salute that earned giggles from the group, including a bemused Luna, even as Gouki cleared the temple walls with a single leap, heading off to scout around for the one they'd designated as Pluto.

If she really was some guardian of time, then it was possible they could use these so called 'Time Gates' to rectify their current situation, or at the very least see exactly how long they had until the second ice age set in.

That, and Gouki wanted to have a word with the woman personally, as it was quite clear that she'd predicted the coming of the ice age, and yet had done absolutely nothing to prevent it. To the master of fists, this stunk heavily of ulterior motives.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Right then." Dan muttered, clearing his throat once he was certain that Gouki had flown the coop, "Well from the looks of things I'd say Gouki already drove home the fact that, for all the firepower you girls got, it's useless if your opponent can see it coming."

The senshi, who had reverted back to civilian form for now, flinched at the memory of how easily they'd been thrashed by a Mau, and Luna and Artemis' smug grins weren't making them feel any better about themselves.

"Now I may not be in the same league as Gouki." Dan admitted, idly wondering of just WHO was in said league, and making a mental note to avoid anyone that WAS like the plague in the future "But before I got stuck like this I used to run up against plenty of strong fighters, like the Emperor of Muay-Thai, Sagat."

"No way!" Makoto gaped, the tall brunette's eyes widening in surprise as she stared at the pink Neko in abject, if understandable disbelief "You actually went up against that guy?! He's like a walking mountain!"

"Hits like one too." Dan muttered, recalling the last match he'd had with the scarred fighter in Thailand, where he'd left Sakura to finish his duel with the man "But enough about that, you girls need to train if we wanna prevent the big freeze, and as the master of Saikyo-Ryu, it's my duty to help those in need!"

"Saikyo-ryu?" Rei repeated, the fiery tempered priestess quirking an eyebrow at the pink furball with barely contained disbelief "Bit presumptuous don't you think?" she commented wryly, earning a righteous glare from Dan.

"Urusei! So it ain't all that well known!" Dan shot back defensively, instictively hissing at the priestess in his anger "It's still the culmination of all my years as a Street Fighter! And our following is growing by the day!"

"Come to think of it…" Ami realized, the bluenette rifling through her book bag and pulling out a pink flyer "This was shoved through our letterbox a few days ago…" she sweatdropped guiltily at the look she recieved "I never got round to throwing it away."

"Saikyo-Ryu TV correspondence course?" Makoto read, sweat dropping at the overly dramatic writing and phrases "Learn to kick butt and take names in your spare time? One month free trial, 10,000 Yen per Video?" she turned to Dan in disbelief "You ran this racket?"

"IT'S not a racket!" Dan hissed, his fur standing on end, making him look like very much like an angry ball of cotton candy, much to Chibi-Usa and Hotaru's amusement "Check the back! It's endorsed by the World Martial Arts Federation!"

"Hey he's right!" Minako noted, the excited blonde pointing at the official stamp on the back of the admittedly gaudy flyer, which contained the usual 'practice responsibly' notice from the self-same board "Wow, who knew?"

"Anyways." Dan muttered, shaking his head in annoyance as they continued to get off topic "I already agreed to make Hotaru-chan my pupil, so I guess having a few more couldn't hurt." He suddenly grew serious, pointing a claw at the group and causing them to back away, lest he start hurling fireballs too "BUT! Only if you call me Dan-sensei!"

The group stared at the pink Neko, beads of sweat dripping down their heads as they muttered their assent, honestly unnerved by the intensity in his stare.

"Right, first things first…" Dan muttered, pacing towards Luna and Artemis, who looked at him in confusion "Did you give Gouki any tips about changing to human form? 'cause the only way I know of…" he shivered "Let's just say it's not an option I'm willing to explore right now."

"I'm afraid that outside of Serena Ascending," Luna replied, the long-suffering advisor shaking her head at the possibility of THAT occurring anytime in the forseeable future "there's no way for Mau to assume their human forms."

"Well, except for this supposed method of yours." Artemis noted, Minako's advisor and friend looking over at his fellow male with interest in his eyes "I mean, it can't be that bad right? At least you were human for a while."

"Oh yeah," Dan muttered, recalling the frigid, night-time breeze around his danglies as he hung desperately to Hotaru's window, praying to whatever deity cared no-one spotted him and called the cops "All too human…"

"So how DO you return to human form?" Ami asked inquisitively, looking over the pink Mau in confusion "I mean, Luna and Artemis have been trying to for months, but all they manage to do is exhaust their magical power."

"Yeah," Artemis agreed, recalling his and Luna's numerous failed attempts thus far with less than fond memories, looking over his fellow Mau with interest "Even if it's only for a few minutes, it'd still make us a lot more useful in a fight than we are now."

"Well…" Dan muttered, looking decidedly uncomfortable at the prospect, some part of him instinctively knowing that something was about to go wrong "Hotaru-chan and I discovered it by accident one night…" he nodded to the purple-eyed girl for emphasis "She gave me a hug before she went to bed, and the next thing I know there's smoke everywhere and I've got my normal body back, opposable thumbs and all."

The group, sans Hotaru, gaped at the pink Mau in disbelief, the two advisor's jaws dropping at the sheer…ABSURDITY of the pink feline's statement. "All she did was HUG you?" Luna stammered, looking him over in disbelief "That's all?"

"I think so?" Dan muttered, looking over at Hotaru for emphasis, receiving a nod for his trouble "I mean I didn't feel anything weird, all she did was give me a hug and the next thing I know I'm back to my old self."

"That's all?" Usagi wondered, looking absolutely bamboozled by the prospect "She didn't wave her pen around or-mrphrgle?!"

Dan blinked at the sight of Rei stuffing an extra-large marshmallow into the blonde's mouth, silencing her before she spilled the beans about Hotaru's past self. He was so shocked, in fact, that he didn't see Minako sneaking up from behind, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"So other than the time-limit," Artemis muttered, drawing his fellow Mau's attention back to himself, a little skeptical about the whole thing if he was completely honest with himself "there doesn't seem to be any downsides to this method?"

"Oh no problem at all." Dan muttered, shivering slightly once more at the memory of almost getting caught by the Outers in Hotaru's bedroom "That is if you don't mind being hauled in for indecent expo-WHA-?!"

"Indecent what now?" Minako asked, smiling down at the struggling Mau as he fought to escape her embrace, a panicked expression on his face "Aw c'mon Hibiki-san, no need to-!"

POOF!

The collective Senshi yelped as pink smoke filled Rei's room, coughing and waving their hands desperately to get rid of it, blinking as a loud thud, followed by a gasp from Minako caught their attention, their eyes widening at the sight before them.

"Why me?" Dan muttered, his head resting on Minako's breasts, the girl kneeling with her arms around his neck as he sat on the floor, both hands covering his junk as the senshi slowly turned violet from shock, their screams filling the air a few seconds later "Why always me?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On the other side of town, Chiba Mamoru felt a sudden feeling of…inadequacy, as if someone, somewhere, had undermined his manhood.

But that was impossible, as he was slated to become the future ruler of earth, with the beautiful Sailor Moon as his bride, a love that had endured millennia culminating in a kingdom that would last forever.

Of course, the fact that he'd be the ONLY male alive after the great freeze hadn't escaped his notice either, nor the fact that he'd be living in a castle with five beautiful women and two lesbians.

He purposefully excluded Saturn and Pluto from his thoughts as, hotties or not, the former was still his daughter's best friend and there were some lines you just didn't cross, and the latter was older than modern civilization…and quite a few ancient civilizations.

MILF didn't even BEGIN to cover that one…

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Am I cursed or something?" Dan muttered, sitting Indian style at the back of Rei's room, his back to the rest as Luna and Artemis tried to comfort him, Diana perched on his head adorably in an attempt to lighten his mood. Behind them the girls, with the exception of Rei, chattered animatedly amongst themselves, sending covert looks towards his back every now and again, their looks ranging from shy embarrassment on behalf of Ami to hunger on behalf of Minako and Makoto, the only two that had yet to find a man in their lives.

"Sorry." Rei muttered, walking into the room with a pair of oversized priest robes in her arms, making a point to look anywhere but directly at Dan as she came in "This is a temple, so this is about the only spare clothes we have lying around."

"Better than nothing." Dan muttered accepting the bundle and looking round for a place to get changed, slipping into Rei's bathroom as Minako opened the door, shivering at the blonde's grin as he slipped past.

"Did you see his face?" the blonde giggled, looking round at the others in excited amusement, a slight blush to her features and a unnerving glint in her shining blue eyes eyes "For an old guy he's pretty stacked too!"

"He's bigger than sempai!" Makoto squealed, covering her cheeks at the memory of the Saikyo fighter's build, not to mention the sneak peak she'd glimpsed of his 'package' "I don't think they're even in the same weight class!"

"Girls really!" Ami pleaded, her face lighting up like a lantern at their lewd comments, though she had to admit that Hibiki-san's back would put a lot of the medical textbooks to shame. All those well defined muscles, barely visible beneath his skin, not to mention those perfectly carved cheeks.

"Mamo-chan's better." Usagi kept muttering to herself, refusing to be tempted by the sight of the older man's goods. After all, she had Mamoru, AKA Tuxedo Kamen/Endymion waiting for her? What could a pink Mau that turned into a guy that looked barely younger than her father offer against that? She promptly turned scarlet as several scenes from one of Rei's saucier manga flitted through her mind, detailing exactly WHAT the Street Fighter could offer.

"In any case." Rei coughed, shooting Minako and Makoto a warning glare, making a mental note to scour the patch of floor Dan had been sitting on with holy water later as she turned to address the group "I think we can all agree that there are definite disadvantages to this method of transformation."

"You won't hear ME disagreeing." Dan muttered, sidling awkwardly out of the bathroom, unused to the cumbersome blue Hakama, tucking the white Uwagi in haphazardly as he sat down cross-legged on a cushion, idly scratching Diana under her chin as she leapt onto his knee.

"So let me get this straight." Rei demanded as they resumed their seats, her eyes narrowed in suspicion "You transform every time you get hugged?" she continued with a scowl at his uncertain nod "And you can't do anything about the…naked part?"

"Do I look like I can just wave a hand and summon clothes out of thin air?" Dan muttered, shooting the girl a deadpan stare for her suspicion, earning a sweatdop from the priestess as she realized the absurdity of the statement "I'm a martial artist, not a miracle worker."

"I don't mind!" Minako chirped, grinning cheekily at the former Neko, earning a dark look from Rei and a shocked expression from the advisors "Heck if Artemis turns out like that it'd be pretty cool!"

"Regardless!" Rei cut in, as Artemis turned an interesting shade of magenta from mortification "We can't have you running around like some sort of flasher every time you feel the need to walk on two legs, the temple's image would be ruined!"

"Screw the temple! I'm worried about ruining the name of Saikyo-ryu!" Dan countered, slapping his hand on the table for emphasis, before blinking "Speaking of which, might as well make the most of this…you got a dojo or something in here?"

"Eh?" Rei stammered, caught off guard by the statement, as it had honestly come out of left field "No…but the main hall should be large enough, Grandpa teaches self defense classes in there sometimes…"

"Yosha!" Dan cheered, rising to his feet with a grunt, earning looks of confusion as he tightened the belt of his Hakama "Then let's get started! The rebirth of the Saikyo-ryu begins now!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And so the Senshi prep for their induction into the Saikyo-Ryu!

Will they survive? Will they become masters of combat?

Rei: WHY IN THE HELL IS THE UNIFORM PINK?!?!?

Chibi-Usa: (^o^) I THINK IT ROCKS!

USAGI: You would...-_-!

Omake Time!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pretty Shotokan Fighter Hotaru VII

"Look!" Rei snarled, slappin a hand on the table, startling her fellow Senshi out of their daze as she looked them all in the eye "We gotta do something about this 'Dosei' chick! She's muscling in on our turf!"

"But she's doing a better job than WE ever did..." Ami pointed out, only to hide behind Makoto with a startled 'Meep!' as Rei's burning glare rounded on her, the pirestesses hair flying behind her in a pillar of fire.

"Problem is, we can't find her." Rei muttered, biting her nail as she calmed down, at least enough that she wasn't traumatizing small children that might be watching (or hiding in the closet, because their 'mother' didn't want them butting in on senshi meetings) "She always leaps in, kicks ass, then leaves."

"Even Umino's got nothing on her." Usagi muttered, idly playing with a straw held between her lips "Well...except a couple of cheese-cake photos that he's been selling around campus when the Teachers aren't looking."

"Little perv..." Rei growled, recalling the bespectacled nerd with less than approving memories. She still recalled the Tuxedo Umino incident after all, even if it had been wiped from the blockhead's memory courtesy of a well timed mallet to the noggin.

"I remember he had a couple of you guys too." Minako pointed out, grinning as she reached into her blouse, pulling out several candid shots of the senshi, taken from DECIDEDLY flattering angles "He does good work."

"MINAKO!" Rei snapped, even as the meeting deteriorated into a shrieking fest, as the rest of the senshi tried to grab their pictures from the laughing blonde, who was taunting them that she had 'Better ones' stashed away somewhere 'I'm going to kill that little perv!'

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hmm?" Umino Guiro wondered, looking up from developing the latest roll of film of Dosei-chan pictures in his personal black-room "Why do I sense that things are about to really heat up later?"

"Never mind." A voice snapped from the shadows, an elaborate cane coming out to rap the bespectacled nerd over the head, as a cape rustled in the shadows "Are the pictures I gave you ready yet?"

"Sheesh...slave driver..." Umino muttered, rubbing his aching head as he moved to the desk, where several manilla envelopes lay "Here, all the senshi's latest 'cheese cake' photos from their latest battles..." He held the envelopes out "Edited of course, just like you asked."

"You do good work," the shadowy client noted, pulling the pictures out and perusing them in the dim light of the room, looking over the various, questionable pictures with a hint of perverse joy "VERY good work."

"Hey, I'm good at what I do." Umino replied, returning to developing the new film, a wry smirk on his face "Still, YOU'RE something else too, I'd have never expected YOU of all people to take pictures like THAT and circulate them."

"There are many ways to express ones love." the client quoted, his face hidden in shadows as a cloak billowed around him dramatically as he turned his back on the teen "And now, I take my lea-!"

"Hold it right there!"

The shadowy client spun, his cane at the ready, only to gape as a set of purple clad thights wrapped around his face, flipping him into the air before driving him head first into the unforgiving ground of the room. HARD.

"Perverse purveyors of Photography!" a familliar, busom figure announced, standing over the dazed, concussed client to point at the cowering Umino, who was backing up against the wallin a vain attempt to stay hidden "You shall no longer be allowed to practice your perverse pleasures! Prepare yourselves!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_The next day..._

"Hey! I hear that Umino got beat up for selling dirty photos!" Usagi exclaimed, walking alongside Ami and Makoto as the tri made their way home from school "Naru-chan said she was going to visit him in hospital."

"Poor Umino-kun..." Ami sighed, shaking her head, though internally she was feeling MOST vindicated, as she hadn't liked those upskirt shots any moe than the others "Will he be alright?"

"Naru-chan said he's suffered enough, so she won't hurt him any more." Usagi countered dismissively, earning a sweatdrop from the other two, who wondered just WHAT the nerd's girlfriend considered 'Nursing' "But not only that! Mamo-chan cancelled our big date!"

"I heard he was in an accident." Makoto noted, wincing as Usagi railed on about the unfairness of life and how she should never have dated such an irresponsible, heartless jerk "Least that's what Rei said."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lying in a full body cast, Chiba Mamoru, futrue King Endymion and masked crime fighter Tuxedo Kamen, glared at Umino Guiro, who was happily eating apples that his beloved Osaka Naru was feeding him.

The Reborn Prince honestly felt like he'd been gypped in some shape or form.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

R&R or Dosei Chan will be upset!

* * *


	12. Chapter 12

And so, as a special favor for Sketchfan's outoto, we begin Dan-sensei's training regimen.

Mars: PSh...how hard can it be?!

Dan: (Glowing with the fire of Satsui nohadou) Kukukukukukukuku...

Usagi: (Koalla hugging Rei, who's spiritual senses are going off the charts) WAH! SAVE ME REI-CHAN!

No senshi were harmed during the making of this chapter...much.

* * *

Round 12.

"Open blast you!" Setsuna snarled, hurling consecutive Dead Screams at the doors of the Time Gates, the repetitive blasts shaking the very foundations of the pocket dimension said gates occupied. Behind her lay the fruits of her previous attempts, including several empty crates of TNT, a cracked Jackhammer, and a super-sized 'jaws of life'.

Pausing in her bombardment, the senshi of Pluto scowled at the gates, which remained steadfastly closed, not even scorched from their recent assault. "So that's the way you want to play things is it?" she muttered, waving a hand and summoning one of her trumps, a small, but potent tactical warhead she'd…borrowed, from an American Munitions dump, her eyes shining with a hint of madness as she leveled the thing at the gates before teleporting out just before the blast reached her.

Immortal and slightly deranged she may be, but even Pluto wasn't so out of her mind she was willing to take her chances against a damn nuke.

Though as she teleported back to the gates, only to find them as pristine as ever, cleaner even, she couldn't help but slip into a full on scream fest that would've been frightening to any outside eyes, though admittedly morbidly amusing.

If said eyes could tear themselves away from the sight of the raging woman, they might have noticed a faint, masculine outline standing in the shadows off the room. Had they looked closer, they'd have spotted a man with short silver hair and beard, dressed in a strange black and silver bodysuit and coat, his arms crossed over his chest and a smirk on his face as he leant against the wall, watching the normally reserved woman tear at her emerald locks, a silver key with Pluto's insignia held between his gloved fingers.

'This is more fun than I thought it'd be.' The figure chuckled, watching as Setsuna actually started pounding on the gates with her fists, swearing up a storm 'Sorry Pluto, not this time…' he noted, smirk widening with dark mirth 'Serenity's orders.'

* * *

"I can't go ooooon!" Usagi whined, the meatball sporting blonde collapsing pitiably on her face, lying there limply, her body completely drained of energy from her recent, soul taxing ordeal as she wept "Mamo-chan…forgive me…!"

"Wake the hell up, odango-atama!" Rei snapped, the fiery tempered priestess glaring down at her so called 'best friend' and 'fearless leader' in resigned disgust "We haven't even finished warming up yet!"

"But Rei-chaaaan!" Usagi wept, the blonde looking up at the priestess desperately, her eyeslittle watery pools of unshed tears in the face of her friend's heartlessness "I can't move another step! My whole body hurts!"

"Good grief they're only push-ups!" the priestess muttered in disbelief, looking down at the blonde in exasperation, "and he only asked us to do ten, even Ami's already finished those, but you haven't done one!"

'This is the hope of humanity?' Dan muttered, the master of Saikyo-ryuu standing off to the side with his arms crossed and Diana perched atop his head, a bead of sweat sliding down his head, and those of the Mao, as they watched the girls, or rather just Usagi, attempt the simple warm up 'Not exactly a stirring performance.'

"Ru-chan…" Usa uttered concernedly, the future princess of Crystal Tokyo watching as Hotaru struggled to finish her fifth push up "Maybe you should take it easy…I mean, it's not like we're going to be fighting, right?"

"But…Hibiki-san made me his student…" Hotaru insisted, the frail, purple eyed girl panting as she lowered herself to the ground for another push-up, her arms trembling "So…I have to work just as hard."

"I told you to call me sensei didn't I?" Dan deadpanned, though there was a gentle smirk on his face as he sidled up to them, his arms folded across his chest "Ease up there kiddo, just because the style is called Saikyo, doesn't mean you gotta outdo your fellow students."

"H-hai…" Hotaru gasped, sitting up from the exercise and accepting a bottle of water from a smiling Usa, who patted the drained girl on the back encouragingly as they went off to a corner to rest up, the reincarnation of Saturn gulping down the water gratefully.

"And as for the rest of you." Dan called out, his face stern once more "You're a lot older, so I got no qualms driving you into the ground. My first disciple was around your age when she started training, so I wont have any complaints about me bullying people younger than me." He gestured for Makoto to step forwards "Come on, let's see how you rate in a quick spar."

"You sure?" Makoto asked, rolling her shoulder confidently as she stepped forwards amidst cheers from Minako and Usagi and a concerned look from Ami "I'm no slouch in the martial arts myself you know."

"Then this should be interesting." Dan replied with a smirk, settling into a guard stance, both arms extended from his side, one behind the other, as he gestured for her to advance "Sa-KOI!"

Makoto rushed forwards with a high kick, aiming for the man's head, only for Dan to block, noting with some surprise that she was stronger than Sakura had been before the girl got some serious training, and delivered a stern, but gentle, elbow strike to her stomach, knocking her off her feet, more winded than hurt.

"Nice kick you got there." The Saikyo master acknowledged, dancing nimbly on his feet despite the baggy hakama as he loosened up "Between you and Sakura I'm starting to wonder about the schoolgirls of today."

"Glad you approve." Makoto grinned, the tall brunette going for a sweep kick that Dan dodged by stepping back, following it up with a rising spin kick to the cheek, making good use of her long legs to close the distance.

"You and Elena'd get along pretty well." Dan noted with approval, dodging under the strikes, swatting the kicks aside as he referred to the African Capoeira princess. "Though your kicks don't quite measure up to hers…or ol' thunder thighs' for that matter."

* * *

"Detective Xiang?" a concerned secretary asked, drawing everyone's attention to the stunned Chinese Interpol Officer as she looked down at the coffee mug she'd inadvertently crushed between her hands.

'Why do I have the sudden urge to kick someone through a wall?' Chun Li muttered, a frown on her face as a feeling of irritation she normally only associated with a certain indecently dressed kunoichi's comments washing over her.

* * *

"Pretty good punches too." Dan noted, the hakama clad street fighter knocking one of Makoto's palm strikes aside and using her arm and momentum to throw her over his shoulder "But all said and done, you got a lot a work to do!"

"Mako-chan!" Usagi cried in alarm, the odango-sporting, pigtailed blonde racing over to coruch at her friend's side, watching as the taller brunette sat up, rubbing her head from the fall with a groan "Daijoubu?!"

"Yeah…just my pride…" Makoto sighed, shaking her head at how easily she'd been taken down. She was the best fighter amongst the inners, though out of the scouts, Haruka was widely considered her better, if only because the outer senshi had been at it longer "You're pretty good, Sensei."

"Naturally!" Dan exclaimed, his nose growing longer at the praise "I traveled the whole world to hone my skills! I may not be in the same league as Masters or Ryu, but I'm pretty confident in my abilities."

"Masters?" Minako repeated, the shorter blonde, touching her finger to her lips in thought, only to beam widely in sudden understanding "Ah! You don't mean Ken Masters do you? The Pan-American champ?"

"Uh…yeah?" Dan muttered, the master of Saikyo-ryuu scratching his cheek in confusion at the girl's reaction, a sense of premonition washing over him "He and I studied under the same master for a while…we've fought a few times too."

"No way!" Minako exclaimed, slipping into fan girl mode as a poster of Ken seemed to materialize behind her "He's so dreamy!" she gushed "Those long brows! That golden hair! I just wanna run my fingers through it!"

"He's married you know." Dan pointed out, the hakama-clad fighter sweat dropping as the girl froze, the sound of cracking glass filling the air as the image of Ken shattered behind her, revealing the kanji for 'homewrecker'.

"Minako-chan…" Ami mumbled, the shy bluenette sighing as she patted the depressed blonde on the back as she huddled in a corner, a little ball of depression as a cloud of doom hung over her "Ganbatte-ne…"

"And there's another reason not to go for pretty-boys Hotaru-chan." Dan muttered as an offside to the confused girl, nodding his head sagely as he spoke "More often than not, they're spoken for."

Hotaru noted, mentally adding the point to her 'List of Hibiki-san's teachings', which she was considering turning into a written document. He certainly made more valid reasons for not doing things that Haruka-papa and Michiru-mama, who kept going on about something to do with the birds and bees whenever she'd asked them where babies came from, like everyone else. 'To think parents can get them from hospitals.' The girl noted with a hint of wonder, as she'd always associated hospitals as places of pain and sickness. The fact that new life could begin there was heartening.

"Right, I think that's enough of a breather." Dan noted, popping his neck joints as he spoke "You there…Rei was it? You're up next."

Rei frowned, slipping into the standard defensive stance her grandfather had taught her, unwilling to let the cocky brunette off lightly. True he hadn't done anything wrong, not compared to Gouki's assault of her familiars, but she just didn't like the guy's cocky attitude. It had nothing to do with the fact he'd flashed her in her own room, or that fact that she was going to have to spend a week meditating to get the 'image' of him lying spread-eagled on her floor out of her mind. Priestess in training and Senshi of Mars or not, she was still your everyday teenage girl, one that hadn't had a decent man in her life since Mamoru turned out to be Endymion.

Lunging forward with a palm strike, intending to knock Dan off balance, she was surprised when the man instead grabbed her wrist and rolled backwards, using his foot to send her over him in a perfect throw, causing her to land on her back some feet away.

"Pretty aggressive for a priestess." The fighter noted with a cocky grin, rolling back onto his feet, a little off balance, as he still wasn't used to the Hakama, "But then considering the kind of people you're up against, I suppose that's natural."

"You-!" Rei snapped, rising to her feet with a growl and striking out with kicks and punches, trying to determine the man's center of gravity, to better knock it off center. But Dan merely swerved around her strikes, stepping forwards to cut off her kicks with his shin and thighs, slapping her palms out of the way with minimal effort, that oddly approving smile never leaving his face "Face me dammit!"

"I am." Dan shot back, spinning round and slapping her on the back, sending her staggering away from him, nearly falling on her face "I'm just not going all out, that's not how you teach."

* * *

"What're you doing there, Ami-chan?" Makoto asked, looking away from the spar to find her blue haired friend typing away at the mercury computer, looking up at the fight from time to time with a calculative expression "Instant replays?"

"Sort of." Ami admitted, looking up at the fight as Rei was sent stumbling away for a second time "I'm just analyzing Hibiki-san's body as we fight…for some reason his energy signature is completely human, no traces of magic at all."

"How's that possible?" Artemis wondered with surprise, looking at the bluenette in alarm at the statement "Even if he's not a natural Mau, a complete lack of magical energy after a transformation like that…"

"I know," Ami assured the white Mau, her brow furrowing in confusion as she looked over the scans results "But the fact is that as he is now, Hibiki-san is simply a highly trained human being with slightly developed ki pathways." She frowned "Which is odd…it looks like he hasn't developed them fully, they aren't properly aligned with his body either."

"What…so he's got a few screws loose or something?" Usagi asked dumbly, earning sweat drops from the group at how fitting the statement was. She might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but sometimes the Moon Princess came up with some pretty fitting analogies.

"Sort of…" Ami admitted hesitantly, looking over as Dan tossed Rei to the ground for the umpteenth time "At the very least, he's stronger than an ordinary man, but his undeveloped pathways mean he can still go further if he takes the time to sort them out."

The groups' thoughts were interrupted as Rei stumbled over to them, panting for breath and flushed, but otherwise unhurt in anything but pride, Dan calling Ami up for her turn, much to the bluenette's uncertainty.

"Relax, I can tell just by looking you've got next to no hand to hand skills." Dan offered, trying to sound reassuring but coming off as blunt as ever "So I'll be running you through some basic katas to start off, but first, let's see you make a fist."

Ami, blushing in embarrassment, did as she was told, only to blink as Dan took her fist and began making corrections. "Don't ever tuck your thumb inside your hand when you make a fist." The ponytail-sporting fighter corrected calmly, "You hit anyone with that and you'll snap your own thumb off…or shatter the joint."

To Ami, whose study habits took up most of her spare time, the idea of damaging her ability to hold a pen was terrifying. So she listened in rapt attention as Dan corrected her stance, posture, even the way she positioned her feet and tilted her fist.

"Too much pressure on one foot makes it hard to dodge the other way." Dan explained sagely, having learned that one the hard way when fighting Sagat's disciple Adon a few years back "I can tell you're not the type that likes slugging it out, so we'll be focusing on how to read attacks and defend yourself once we've got the basics covered."

Ami sighed in relief, promptly following Dan through a short series of Kata, albeit a little clumsily for her first time, noting with wonder that she rather enjoyed them.

* * *

'The buffoon does good work.' Gouki noted grudgingly, the Master of Fists watching from his spot on the shrine wall, his Ki hidden from everyone as he watched Dan take the weakest of the group, the blue haired one, and led her through a series of basic Kata that seemed to include elements of Tai Chi and Chinese Kempo. Even from the first glance he could tell the girl lacked the instinctive drive to be a true fighter, and from their fight he'd garnered her abilities to be of the support category, good for surprising or waylaying the foes, but otherwise requiring she distance herself from actual fights.

'Though some of those attacks seem deadly enough,' he allotted, recalling dodging an Aqua Rhapsody that had encased a boulder in ice within seconds 'Still, it would probably be best to simply teach her to defend herself for now.'

Having failed to locate this 'Setsuna' person anywhere in the area, the maned Mau had returned to the shrine to find Dan's lessons in full swing. While dubious at first, he had to admit that, as a martial artist, the idiot knew what he was doing. True the Ansatsuken's training regiment was made of far sterner stuff, one couldn't be mollycoddled if you hoped to master a style designed to kill with one strike, but for a group of girls that were in need of a good wake up call, Gouki had to admit the buffoon's school covered everything needed.

'The katas should limber them up without putting to much initial strain on the body.' The Mau acknowledged, watching as Dan called the Meatball headed blonde to the fore, the girl promptly falling on her rear of her own volition, promptly bursting out into tears about her bruised rump, much to the groups embarrassment 'Yare-yare…'

* * *

"Oh come on!" Rei snarled, the fiery-tempered priestess glowering at Usagi as the blonde bawled her eyes out "He didn't even TOUCH you yet, quit embarrassing us and get up there, Odango-Atama!"

"But I don't want him to touch me!" Usagi bawled, looking up at the sheepish looking Dan, who was scratching the back of his neck in consternation "He threw Mako-chan around like a rag doll! I don't wanna!"

'We're doomed…' Luna and Artemis muttered, looking from the future queen of Crystal Tokyo to one another and shaking their heads in defeat. It took something close to the apocalypse for Usagi to get her act together each time, that or someone precious to her, like the senshi or Tuxedo Kamen, sacrificing their lives. True the Ginzuishou could revive them, and repeated use of said gem hastened Usagi's own ascension, but one had to wonder just how many times the senshi would have to die before Neo Queen Serenity's persona came into being?

"Look…" Dan muttered, crouching down next to the blonde and patting her on the shoulder "I wont throw you if that's what you want, but sooner or later you're gonna go up against someone not as nice as me…and what're you gonna do if he's beaten up all your friends because you wouldn't fight him head on?"

Usagi blinked at that, looking up at the solemn faced fighter in surprise, the rest of the group looking on in interest at the man's logic.

"I mean sure, from what I've heard that stone you got there's pretty damn powerful." Dan admitted, nodding to the locket that contained the ginzuishou, "Hell some of the reasons you've been fighting are because people want it for themselves." He frowned "But that's the thing, unless you can keep them from taking it from you, they're gonna keep coming at you with everything they got." He nodded to the other girls "Sure your friends will be there for ya, but do really wanna be the one cowering in a corner while they're risking their lives for you?"

Usagi looked over at her friends, eyes roaming over them as she recalled everything they'd gone through together, from her quarrels with Rei to studying with Ami, from learning to cook from Makoto to hanging out with Minako. She recalled every battle they'd been in together, all the good times and the bad, the worst of all being the shared memories of their deaths, all because she hadn't been strong enough from the start.

She looked over at Hotaru and Chibi-Usa, recalling how Hotaru, as Sailor Saturn, had to sacrifice herself to stop Pharaoh 90 and the void of silence, and how Usa, her own daughter, had been turned against them by Wiseman because she let the old freak get the best of her. She recalled the battles with the Outers, all of which could've been avoided if she'd been strong enough to earn their respect from the get-go.

Wiping her eyes, the blonde stood up, surprising everyone with the look in her eyes, a set, determined expression they'd only seen on one woman to date, a woman she would yet become in the future.

Dan, smirking at the blonde's change in countenance, moved into a ready stance and beckoned her forward, Usagi doing so with a yell that startled everyone, charging to meet him head on.

* * *

"Well I'll be…" Artemis murmured, the white Mau watching the spar with a look of wonderment, shaking his head in disbelief as Usagi simply refused to go down, at least not for long "You ever seen her this worked up Luna?"

"Never." Luna admitted, watching as her princess and friend kicked and punched at Dan, albeit sloppily and with openings the Saikyo master took no qualms abusing, though he kept his word and didn't throw her "I mean I know she could be serious when she wants to, and Serenity knows she's saved the world enough times to know when the chips are down but…"

"But she's never been THIS devoted before, right?" Artemis finished, nodding in understanding as Usagi pushed herself off the floor and threw herself back into the fray, Dan merely blocking and weaving around her blows while making the odd comment here or there "And the look on her face…" he whistled "I don't mind admitting it Luna but when I saw her eyes a second ago I could've sworn I saw her father looking back at me."

Luna nodded, dimly recalling Queen Serenity's consort from the Silver Millennium.

He had not been a man of noble birth, if anything he was a traveling vagabond that had come to her aid during one of her sojourns to Earth centuries ago. The queen had recently lost her first daughter and consort to what was later revealed as political sabotage, and had been visiting earth on the then King Endymion's invitation when she and her escort had been beset by weird, Youma like creatures with white masks.

Just as the escort were about to be cut down a giant of a man, dressed in rags and wielding a sword that had seen better times, had leapt out of the woodwork and started hacking away with reckless abandon. Apparently, according to the official report, he'd cut them down with such ease that even Sailor Saturn, who would've been Hotaru's mother in that lifetime, had almost dropped her glaive in shock, and considering what would happen if she HAD, that was saying something for how shocked she was.

Serenity, grateful for the rescue, had invited him to her palace as thanks, an offer the man had accepted after much consternation, as he apparently hadn't noticed them being attacked when he'd leapt in to kill the things. During his stay he'd driven most of the advisors, including Luna's father, to their wits end, as not only was his sense of direction deplorable, but he kept challenging anyone that looked relatively strong to fights that either resulted in either the himself, his opponent, or both being carted off for treatment, often with the result of a wing of the castle being reduced to rubble.

Serenity apparently thought it was amusing, and Luna had to admit the look on the then Saturn's face when her glaive had bounced off his hide was priceless. The monarch would spend most of her free time conversing with the man in her gardens, seemingly finding comfort in the brute that had terrified most of the rest of the castle with the exception of the Senshi, and it wasn't long before rumours of wedding bells filled the air.

Then one day the big lummox had gone chasing after a giant version of the masked Youma that had somehow made it past the wards, leaping right into the thing's portal as it tried to crawl away and had promptly disappeared, leaving behind a disappointed, but oddly accepting Serenity, who nine months later gave birth to a healthy baby girl.

'What was his name again?' the former advisor muttered, wracking her brains as she tried to recall what the man called himself 'Come to think of it, he said he didn't really have one…unless the old Uranus' nickname of 'That Bastard' applies.'

* * *

In the afterlife, a giant man with his hair done up in spikes and bells sneezed, pausing in the midst of his suicide drills with his men as he rubbed his nose in thought.

"Ken-chan, Daijoubu?" a little pink haired girl asked, halting in her toying 'read horribly maiming' of one of the cocky new recruits to their division to look up at her adoptive father with a look of concerned interest.

"Yeah…" the giant muttered, snorting in annoyance to clear the dust from his nostrils, his sword dripping with the blood of the poor soul he'd been facing off with, said fool lying as still as possible on the floor to avoid having to fight any longer "Someone's probably talking about me again…"

"Ah! Maybe it's Soi-soi!" the little girl giggled, referring to a certain short-tempered captain that had an unhealthy obsession with her predecessor "or Shirou-chan!" This could've only referred to the youngest captain, as the elder 'Shirou-chan' didn't talk smack about people "Or Robo-face! Or-!"

"Zaraki-Taichou…" a calm voice called out, the duo turning to find the regal features of Unohana Retsu, 4th division captain, standing in the battle-torn courtyard, her ever present, bodhissatva-like smile on her face "I've come to escort you to the captain's meeting."

"Another one?" Zaraki muttered, the spiky haired captain of the 11th leaning his ragged looking blade over his shoulder with an annoyed grunt, his recently acquired bells janglingfrom the slight movement "Didn't we have one a while back?"

"There have been new developments." Unohana replied, the chief healer and leader of the 4th division looking solemn as she drew closer "Ukitake Taicho's lieutenant was killed in action by an unusual Hollow."

"Shiba huh?" Zaraki muttered, sole visible eye narrowing in thought as he sheathed his blade with a click "Damn waste, guy could throw a pretty good punch when he wanted to." He snorted, turning his head to his lieutennant "Yachiru, keep these guys at it till they piss blood."

"Hai! Ken-chan!" Yachiru cheered, dancing off to play, 'read: torment', with the terrified members of the 11th division, heedless of their screams of terror and Zaraki watching her go with an unusually serious expression on his face.

'Funny…' the monstrous captain muttered, watching the girl laugh as she tried to devour his recently promoted 3rd seat's head, the bald man running around like a headless chicken on crack from the pain 'She always reminds me of someone when she laughs…'

Snorting, he brushed it off, walking off alongside the serene 4th division captain without another thought to the matter, brushing the fading memory of a smiling woman with silver hair out of his thoughts.

* * *

And I think I'll just leave off here.

Will I be going anywhere with this implication? Or is it simply there for comedic references?

Sorry, but I'm not spilling here, you wanna know?

Then REVIEW!


End file.
